WORRIED villagers have been left wondering who the mystery tagger is after a spate of graffiti on 17 separate sites.

Walls, telephone boxes, bus shelters, houses and even the parish hall in Kempsey have been daubed with blue spray paint all bearing the same tag of WR5/8.

The incidents all happened during last weekend, and can be visibly seen while driving through the village.

Peter Scurrell, aged 68, of Elgar Drive, has had the tag sprayed on his garden wall. He and his wife, 63-year-old Enid, retired to Kempsey 11 years ago.

"It was super then," he said. "But in the last 18 months it has all gone horrible. It is pathetic.

"We are gutted, you just do not know what is going to happen next."

Another resident, Peter Fitzjohn, of Post Office Lane, whose cream-painted house has been covered with graffiti, said: "Your first reaction is to be quite cross. "How do you know they are not high on drugs and have a knife?

"It is the invasion of privacy which gets me. Kids have always and will always ride through puddles on bikes and splash you, that does not bother me in the least, but it has got worse. "It has got worse with their attitude and worse with what they do.

"I do not know what the answer is, I wish I could wave a magic wand.

"It is down to the parents, it has got to be. And alcohol is a lot more easily available these days than it ever was when I was a kid."

Mr Fitzjohn, 66, who has lived in the village for 29 years, has notified his insurance company about the damage and estimates re-painting the side of his house will cost hundreds of pounds.

This spate is not the first time villagers have been affected by vandalism. In February 2005 a number of residents had their cars scratched and bikes and car stereos were stolen.

In June 2006 there were 13 reports of anti-social behaviour and nine incidents of criminal damage, and the wooden bridge over Hatfield brook in the Rocky conservation area of the village was sawn up and thrown into a stream.

And last year residents suffered a week of mail hell when the locks of post boxes were vandalised, forcing Royal Mail to tape them closed.

Kempsey Parish Council chairman David Harrison said: "We thought we had solved the problem within Kempsey because the vandalism had decreased dramatically but unfortunately we have had a short spate of an awful lot of damage."

A spokeswoman for South Worcestershire Police said officers will be patrolling the area and investigations into the graffiti are ongoing. "We are appealing for information on who could be responsible for this criminal damage," she said.

Anyone with information should contact police on 08457 444 888 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Known areas affected:

  • At the playing field.
  • Pavilion roller shutter doors.
  • The wall between the playing field and houses in Elgar Drive.
  • The electricity sub station.
  • The youth centre.
  • The store belonging to the youth club.
  • The store belonging to the Scouts.
  • The playing field store next to the pavilion.
  • The youth shelter.
  • Play equipment in the children's play area.
  • Houses in Post Office Lane.
  • A wall in Post Office Lane.
  • A wall in Old Road North.
  • The Crown Inn skittle alley.
  • The parish hall.