POLICE have several suspected graffiti taggers in their sights, thanks to the Adver.

Readers have identified youths after we featured their tags in the paper.

One teenager has been arrested and released on bail pending inquiries.

Officers plan to question several more.

A crackdown on offenders has been launched after tags began appearing all over Haydon Wick and Greenmeadow.

Swindon Council has stepped up its patrols and many subways are being repainted on a weekly basis.

The two main tags belong to HWE (Heavy Words Exploded) and CTB (Crazy Tagging B******s). Others say DOZE, NOWZ, ASK and FEEF.

Convictions for spraying graffiti are rare, mainly due to the difficulty of proving culpability.

But with the help of readers, Swindon police are confident of bringing offenders to court.

WPC Gail Bellamy, community beat officer said: "This arrest was a direct result of the article in the paper.

"Anyone committing these offences could find themselves charged with criminal damage, which carries a hefty fine, imprisonment or both. Names or addresses of offenders can be volunteered by the public anonymously for us to investigate." The offenders are believed to be between 13 and 16.

Areas suffering particularly badly are subways at Bluebell Path and Rush-mere Path in Hay-don Wick

The problem in Rushmere Path has got so bad that police are calling a meeting with residents to discuss the way forward.

One option is to shut the subway. WPC Bellamy is also hoping school teachers will recognise the tags, which may have been scribbled on exercise books or on art work.

Anyone who can identify the taggers should call police on 01793 528111.

Swindon Council has launched a phoneline for residents to report graffiti which needs painting over.

Call 01793 463463. Staff will also clean private homes.

Tamash Lal