VANDALS who sprayed new bus shelters and street signs with graffiti have been branded “mindless yobs” by Southend councillors.

The brainless taggers daubed their identification markings on shelters and “keep left” signs on the A13 London Road in Leigh.

Council clean-up contractors have since moved in to remove the tags, but ward councillor John Lamb, Southend Council’s deputy leader, said: “I was absolutely appalled and disgusted when I saw what these morons had done. Here we are spending some of our scarce resources on new bus shelters and road signage for the benefit of our council tax payers – and how do these idiots respond?

“Every time we have to call out one of our graffiti teams to remove this disgraceful scrawl it ultimately costs local residents money. It’s time we started to fight back against these people and made them realise that we won’t tolerate their childish, irresponsible and utterly pea-brained actions. I would urge anyone who sees one of these so-called taggers spraying graffiti to ring the police immediately.”

Residents who witness taggers in the act are asked to contact Essex Police on 0300 333 4444.

To report freshly sprayed graffiti for removal contact Southend Council on 01702 215006.