City targets 'graffiti lovebirds'

The graffiti is the work of "Tasty" and "Nasty"

Police are offering a £500 reward for information about a couple who they believe are operating as a pair of graffiti "lovebirds".

The couple have been caught on CCTV spraying their tags - Tasty and Nasty - in the Meadows area of Nottingham.

Nottinghamshire Police said footage shows them holding hands.

The city council and the police have launched a crackdown on graffiti, saying it gives a poor impression of the city.

Purple paint

Some of the graffiti is sprayed in purple paint in bridges and walls in inner Nottingham.

"It cost the city of Nottingham more than £250,000 to remove graffiti in the city alone - that equates to more than 700,000 square feet of graffiti," he said.

He said it is the first time he has seen a "lovebird" graffiti team in Nottingham.

Anyone who sees graffiti being painted or sprayed around the city is being asked to report the incident to the city council as part of the city's annual Big Spring Clean.

People caught applying graffiti face prosecution and a maximum fine of £5,000.