A TEENAGER has been helping graffiti busters by cleaning up his own tags.

After admitting causing the damage in Milton, near Sittingbourne, the local 17-year-old agreed to clean up all the areas he had previously targeted.

It’s the first time that restorative justice has been used to this effect on graffiti in Sittingbourne and was made possible by Milton PCSO Neil Baker.

He said: “Getting this teenager to clean up his own handy work was the perfect way to make him realise the effect his actions have had on the local area.

“Graffiti artists often have no regard for the property they are damaging but this particular artist won’t be putting his mark on Milton again anytime soon”

PCSO Baker worked alongside Swale Borough Council, Clean Kent Campaign Youth Offending Team workers and Youth Crime Reduction Officers to organise the graffiti clean up.

Alan Newman, Swale Community Safety Partnership Coordinator said: “This is an excellent example of practical policing and I hope the offender has learned a valuable lesson and that this will deter others who might be considering defacing public areas”.