BOBBIES on the beat in Okehampton have issued a plea for people to ‘take more pride in their town’ after a spate of graffiti over Christmas and New Year.

Graffiti has been daubed on trolley shelters, bus shelters, walls, recycling bins and telephone boxes, with affected locations including the Ockment Centre and the nearby Waitrose, Lidl and Co-op car parks.

‘Tags have also been located near Wetherspoon’s and the public toilets on St James’s Street,’ said PCSO Marcus Jarvis. ‘There is also a large amount in the area around Station Road, so basically it is all through the town.’

His colleague PC Nathan Walker shared an image of the graffiti sprayed on the side of the Ockment Centre on North Street on Okehampton Police’s Facebook page, together with an appeal for information.

‘We really want people in Okehampton to take a bit of pride in our town,’ said PC Walker. ‘The message is we’d like people to stop doing it.

‘We’d also like people to share any information they have about the incidents.’

He also mooted the idea of a ‘graffiti wall’ which youngsters could use to express themselves in graffiti art – instead of spraying it where it is not wanted.

Okehampton mayor Jan Goffey said: ‘Luckily we are not living in a city on mainland Europe as this is one of the things that blight their cityscapes.  This is just a nuisance and a costly one as it all has to be cleaned off.

‘If anyone has CCTV of offenders maybe they could pass it to the police and then to the  Rivers Group who regularly organise clean ups around town and I’m sure they would be glad of extra help. What was that old saying… something about the Devil finding work for idle hands?’ 

Anyone with information is urged to direct message PC Nathan Walker via the ‘Okehampton Police’ Facebook page or by calling the police number 101.