A group of five teenagers have been made to clean off graffiti that they admitted to spraying on a new Stockton play park.
PCSOs Lee Butterworth and Ryan Davey from the Newtown Neighbourhood Policing Team were shocked to see the new park on Romford Road in the town damaged with graffiti tags sprawled across the equipment and surrounding fencing.
The PCSOs worked alongside Stockton Borough Council’s Anti-social Behaviour Team and were able to identify five youths between 13 and 14-year-old believed to be responsible from the tags that were used. After being spoken to by the officers, the boys admitted to causing the damage.
With the play park still littered with the graffiti, the officers and anti-social behaviour staff approached the youngster’s parents and demanded that the damage was cleaned-up. The parents were supportive of the officers and made sure that their children were at the park on Sunday afternoon to start the removal.
Using graffiti removal kits, the teenagers spent around one hour scrubbing hard to remove their graffiti from the park. They even brought along some of their friends to help with the clean-up.
PCSO Lee Butterworth said: “We were shocked to see that the park had been damaged in such a way, with equipment and fencing recklessly emblazoned with graffiti tags.
“Once we had identified those responsible we felt it was important that they spend the time it takes to clean off the damage that they had caused, rather than someone else doing it. I’m pleased that their parents were on side and once the damage had been cleaned, news quickly spread to the surrounding estates with the young people talking about the action that we had taken.
“I hope this teaches the teenagers a lesson and that they think twice before reaching for the spray paint in the future. I’m sure members of the local community will be pleased that we have held these young people to account and that the park has been changed back to its previous condition.”
