THE graffiti and litter which forced officials to pull Huddersfield out of the Yorkshire in Bloom contest, disgusts the majority of shoppers, the Examiner found.
We surveyed people on town centre streets after the decision to scrap the town's entry in the competition.
Horrified town centre officials told judges not to bother coming after they went on a last-minute inspection.
It's a decision which saddens shoppers on town centre streets but does not surprise them, the Examiner found in its survey.
Readers have also been having their say on the paper's website.
Stuart Gee, from Milnsbridge, asked: "What good are the cameras around the town if they cannot pick out these graffiti artists?
"Admittedly the cameras cannot see everywhere, but surely they can be used to pinpoint suspects and be followed up?"
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Name: Mrs Margaret Milne
From: Brighouse
Says: "I like Huddersfield very much - it's a nice town. It breaks my heart to see all this litter and graffiti. There must be something wrong with the mentality of the people who do this. I'm sorry for them."
Name: Mr Andrew Sugden
From: Birkby
Says: "Graffiti is a problem in Huddersfield. It's easy to put on and difficult to take off. There is chewing gum all over the pavements. It's dreadful by the railway station and bus stops."
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Name: Mr Ray Moorhouse
From: Honley
Says: "Litter and graffiti do not encourage people to come into Huddersfield. But the vandalism is not limited to the town centre. I came up through Newsome and saw the road sign for Newsome covered in graffiti. I thought `what are they trying to do?' I just cannot understand it. It is getting worse but I do not know what can be done."
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Name: Mrs Christine Watkins
From: Lepton
Says: "I think it's a shame we could not take part in the Yorkshire in Boom competition. But litter is a problem it's disgusting. I was in King Street last week, outside Peters, and had to walk up to the top of the road to find a bin. I saw people throwing things on the floor because they could not be bothered to find a bin. I do not like graffiti but I tend to think it is a fact of life."
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Name: Dorothy Porter
From: Walpole
Says: "It's a mess. Something should be done about it. It makes the town look dirty. It is as if people just do not care." She hasfour children aged between 12 and 19 and said they would be in big trouble if she caught them spraying graffiti on buildings. She added that she had trained her children not to drop litter, but it was not always easy getting them to put it into practice.
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