POLICE say they will continue to get vandals to clean up their own mess after a recent initiative was applauded by the public.

As reported in Tuesday's Adver, officers set three teenagers to work with buckets of soapy water after they sprayed graffiti on St Michael and All Angels' Church in Lyneham.

The teenagers were made to carry out the clean-up under the full gaze of shoppers.

An Adver poll showed 95 per cent of readers felt the back-tobasics approach was the best way to tackle graffiti.

And Wootton Bassett police, who caught the three youths, say they will continue to use the practical form of punishment.

PC Hayley Tarling, the beat manager for Wootton Bassett, said: "We appreciate that when they go to court, if it is a first offence, nothing will be done or the parents will get a fine, so the youths are not getting punished.

"By taking away their Saturday afternoon to go and clean the mess, to us that's better."

The people of Wootton Bassett can expect to see young vandals cleaning their streets soon.

PC Tarling said: "I have got some offenders and that's what they're going to be doing as well because we would rather annoy them and have them take responsibility for what they have done."

The old-fashioned-style punishment used at the church was welcomed by the verger, Babs Taylor.

She hoped the action would make people think twice before spraying graffiti.

PC Tarling said: "When they see what they have done and they see how bad it looks they appreciate it and think 'I better pull my socks up'.

"The court system is not really there for something so minor so this is a good way of dealing with it."

The parents also have a role to play in putting a stop to graffiti, and PC Tarling said: "Some parents are supportive but others don't seem to care.

"The parents of the three who had to clean the church were quite shocked by it all."

North Wiltshire MP James Gray also praised the police action and said it was a good way to deal with vandalism.

Referring to the overwhelming support from the Adver poll, PC Tarling said: "I am sure, going by the feeling of the poll, people of Wootton Bassett would feel the same for the simple fact that graffiti makes the place look horrible and there is no need for it."

Only five per cent of readers agreed with Swindon Council's cabinet member for environment, Coun David Wren, who described the method of punishment as "ad hoc" and "draconian".

Cough up for the cleaning bills

VANDALS would be hit with bills for the damage they do under a push by a Swindon councillor.

Coun Peter Mallinson is putting a motion to the April council meeting calling for the borough solicitor to investigate how the council can sue people who spray graffiti or otherwise damage council property.

Coun Mallinson (Con, Walcot) says he has the support of his fellow Conservative group members for the motion.

He said it was time vandals were forced to pay for their behaviour.

"It's time to send a message out to these people, that if you do this damage, you will have pay for it, " Coun Mallinson said.

He said the traditional approach of waiting for the police to take vandals through the criminal courts was not working.

Coun Mallinson said the actions of Lyneham police in getting a trio of youngsters to scrub off the graffiti they caused was good but court action was stronger.

He said the council needed to take more direct action.

"I have a motion calling for the borough solicitor to bring forward recommendations for taking civil action against anybody who does wanton damage to our property, " Coun Mallinson said.

"In the past we have always relied on the police catching these people and taking them through the criminal courts. "Most of us don't think the punishment fits the crime.

"If you go out and deliberately do a lot of damage on a Saturday night because that's how you get your gratification, then you pay for it."

Coun Mallinson said the borough and its taxpayers were having to waste hundreds of thousands of pounds repairing damage that should never have been done.

"It's not a victimless crime, " Coun Mallinson said.

"It's about time we sent a message to these people that there's a price to pay."

Coun Mallinson said the council would investigate the best way to get vandals to pay - whether it was through invoicing them for the damage, civil orders and criminal charges if they default, or docking their pay.

"We are trying to get something done about this, " Coun Mallinson said.

"It's not just graffiti, it's vandalism of any kind."

The motion is expected to go the council's full meeting on April 19.

Motion seconder, Coun Peter Greenhalgh (Con, Freshbrook & Grange Park) said vandals needed to be taught a lesson.

He said last week's punishment in Lyneham should be available in Swindon.

He said the council wanted to get tough on graffiti and other damage to taxpayers' property.

"It's to send out a very clear message that we are not prepared to put up with this sort of behaviour, " Coun Greenhalgh said.

"We want to try and deter people from doing graffiti."

He said the council was putting another £100,000 into two more graffiti clean up vans and mobile surveillance cameras from next month - money it would not have to spend but for the vandals.

But Coun Greenhalgh said any court action had to have a realistic chance of covering the costs of the damage and the legal action itself.

"There is no point taking action against someone who can't pay up, " he said.