TEEN CHARGED THOUSANDS FOR GRAFFITI RAMPAGE BY ROWENA SPEIRS 11:00 - 26 May 2004

A Teenager has been charged with carrying out £60,000 of graffiti vandalism. The total cost of the graffiti damage allegedly caused by the 17-year-old is the highest figure ever presented to a court in Bath. It means the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was doing more than £100 of damage a day during an 18-month spree. During that time, the youth, who lives on the edge of the city centre, is alleged to have left his mark along the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads station to Box in Wiltshire. His work is also alleged to have defaced property in the Camden, Lower Weston and Widcombe areas. The teenager is due before the city's youth court on Thursday, June 3, to answer ten charges of criminal damage. His arrest comes as police and council officials crack down on graffiti vandals who have cost the city an estimated £5m to clean up. Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Burton, of Milk Street, was due before Bath Magistrates Court today for sentencing after being found guilty of causing £30,000 of criminal damage earlier this month.