POLICE are cracking down on graffiti vandals across Huddersfield.

Youths caught scrawling graffiti are being sent back to the scene of their crimes to clean it up.

The restorative justice initiative aims to tackle ‘tagging’ – the craze when a graffiti artist continually writes their nickname or initials across public property.

Kirklees Council and West Yorkshire Neighbourhood Police Teams have joined forces to launch the scheme which is currently operating in Marsden and Meltham.

A group of youths caught by police were taken out in Meltham to scrub defaced walls.

They were given protective clothing to clean off graffiti from walls in Helme, in the village centre and in the Robert Ashton Park.

In Marsden, a youth was sent out with neighbourhood police team officer Tony Linney and an environmental health officer to remove his tag, PSR.

The Woods Estate offender was responsible for a series of scrawls which appeared throughout the area over the past few months.

He was found after officers followed his tag all the way to his mum’s kitchen wall.

A police spokesman said: “Simply put, restorative justice, which we have been involved with since 2009, is about putting things right.

“When someone does something wrong they should play a part in putting it right again.