Graffiti “artists” have been told not to waste their time spraying at Petersfield Skate Park despite an acknowledgement it has “taken off” at the Love Lane site.

“Persistent graffiti” at the skate park has been highlighted by Petersfield Town Council with their grounds team stating that anything offensive will be quickly removed.

A clean-up is certainly needed at the time of writing with the above picture showing graffiti on much of the fencing and original bowl.

“It’s really taken off there over the last two or three years but it was quite unusual prior to that,” said Cllr Jamie Matthews to the Sports, Recreation and Environment Committee, responding to suggestions there is more anti-social behaviour at Love Lane than other PTC-owned sites in the town.

“That’s when it really started and then it went everywhere.

“I think what the ground teams have been doing is removing stuff on the fence, especially if it’s offensive.

“But I suppose it’s one of those things and it’s part of the scene. By removing it quickly it sets the expectation that if you spray, it’s going to be removed.”

“We thought about exploring the possibility of getting a designated graffiti wall but I’m not sure how effective they are,” said town clerk, Rochelle Halliday.

Meanwhile, reported crime in the Petersfield patch dropped to its third lowest level for a year in December according to the latest www.police.uk data.

Some 72 crimes were reported during the month, down from 83 in November with incidents involving Violence of Sexual Offences (VSOs) accounting for 33 of the figure.

A total of 14 crimes involving either anti-social behaviour or criminal damage were reported during the month, with other notable offences including a robbery on the High Street and incidents involving drugs on The Square and Causeway.