GORSE HILL residents fear graffiti could be returning to the area after a spate of new tags springing up in recent weeks.

Between late June and early July, the tags in black spray paint have appeared along alleyways in the area.

They are currently being investigated by the neighbourhood policing team.

There are no suspects at the moment but police are keen to track down the offender.

PCSO Andy Dellar, of the Gorse Hill neighbourhood policing team, is investigating the graffiti, which will be cleaned off by Swindon Council by next week.

“We have had multiple reports recently, and we are looking at a period between June 26 at around 6pm and July 5 at around 11.45am,” he said.

“There have been a lot of reports over two days, then there has been a gap of a few days before another spate of it has appeared, where they obviously came back to the area.

“There are currently no suspects but they are using black paint.

“It has happened primarily around Argyle Street, where there is an alleyway that runs down the side of the street.

“They have gone all the way along and done a few properties, but it is possible some of them could be historic incidents which have not been reported until now.”

People living in the area have had a previous problem with graffiti, and PCSO Dellar is keen to prevent it returning.

“People are just getting fed up now with all the graffiti,” he said.

“The residents have said they have had it happen quite a lot before but it has been quiet for quite a long time.

“They are worried it might be coming back to the area and we do not want that to happen.

“On two or three properties I am trying to figure out what it actually says, and I can only make out a T and an A.

“I have spoken to the graffiti team at Swindon Council and they will come out and view it before cleaning it off properly. They will be coming up in a few days time.

“If we can find out who has done this then we can look at restorative justice or a neighbourhood justice panel.

“To get them to remove it would be the best solution so they can see that getting this all cleaned isn’t an easy task.”

If anyone has seen any other instances of the graffiti using black paint, or seen anyone acting suspiciously in the Argyle Street area of Gorse Hill in recent weeks, they should contact PCSO Dellar via the non-emergency number 101.