A developer has sworn to catch the vandals who have defaced his business park and haul them before the courts.

George Wilson Holdings Ltd owns Prospect Retail Park in Whitstable - where new Halfords and Pets at Home stores are soon to join Marks and Spencer, Aldi and Home Bargains outlets.

But after a scourge of graffiti has appeared on walls across the site, company chairman George Wilson has vowed to catch the culprits. He has revealed plans to spend thousands of pounds on CCTV cameras in the hope they will catch vandals in the act of spray painting.

“These idiots who spray our buildings and walls with graffiti have to be stopped,” he said.

“It’s an epidemic. We have now been forced to invest in cameras which we will have everywhere.

“When they spray our walls you cannot get it off - the cost to cover this up is horrendous.”

One piece of graffiti, on the wall running around the large car park facing the Old Thanet Way, has proven unbudging. Specialists contracted by Mr Wilson have tried and failed to remove the words - prompting fears the culprit has painted over the work in a special paint usually used to repel graffiti.

“It looks horrible,” said Mr Wilson. “It’s not like they’re even saying anything clever. When we do catch them on CCTV, we will take all the necessary steps and notify the police. We will have the evidence of criminal damage and will hold them responsible, which will come to thousands of pounds in repairs. We will pursue them through the courts to the bitter end.

“Defacing people’s property is as serious as fly-tipping. I am confident the city council and the public are totally fed up with these characters.”

The city council says the use of anti-graffiti paint to prevent removal is highly unusual.

Spokesman Rob Davies said: “The cost of this paint is many times more than the cost of a tin of spray paint. It would not be the usual activity of a tagger.”