A graffiti board has been installed in Simmons Park in an effort to curb a spate of vandalism in Okehampton over the last 12 months.

The town council has installed the board in the first shelter upon entering the park from the town via pedestrian access. The board has been installed to encourage the young people of the town to be creative by giving them somewhere to express their artistic talent and let their imagination run wild.

In the last 12 months, police have noted several spates of graffiti, with the Ockment Centre, Waitrose, Lidl and Co-op targeted at the start of 2018. Incidents persisted throughout the year, including one vandal climbing onto the roof of the town’s Co-op store to spray a number of tags on the wall last June. The Station Road area of town was badly hit last November.

One youngster made amends for spraying graffiti in Okehampton by joining the police in cleaning it up in May 2018.

Town clerk Emma James said: ‘The board will be regularly monitored and any offensive language, pictures or personal details will be removed.

‘Each month a photo of the graffiti board and/or any artistic pieces of work will be posted on social media and then painted over so there is a fresh canvas to start again.

‘If there are any local artistic people that would be able to give a demonstration or workshop regarding this type of art whilst utilising the facility, the town council would be more than pleased to hear from you.’