THE organiser of Swindon’s Festival of Poetry has provided support for an artist who has taken to chalking verse on the town’s streets.

Hilda Sheehan joined locals in giving the vote of confidence to Danny Lake, whose creations have been seen in and around Regent Street this month.

Danny, 29, has admitted he has attracted “interest” from police and council officials after objections were raised to his work. But Hilda, who wants to include people from all walks of life in next month’s festival, believes he is no public nuisance.

She said: “For me this is public art and I think it is quite well done. It might not be high art that costs £100 a ticket but it gives people a chance to connect to poetry when they are in town.

"I have seen passers-by standing reading it and talking to him about it. He uses different colours and rhyming couplets and it brings something different to the town centre.

"It looks completely beautiful. I think he should be given a special space to do it.”

Danny’s subjects range from humorous takes on everyday life to meditation to the crisis in Palestine. His travels have taken him to Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea.

Hilda, a writer and poet, has taken Danny’s email address and wants to include him in next year’s festival.

She said: “He is from Swindon and he travels around the country to chalk his poems on the pavement. He has been taken to heart in other towns and cities and in some places he has even been found performance spaces to use.

“No other town has given him any trouble but his home town is the only place where he has been told he might be moved on. Traders and the public have stopped to reads his poem and give him money so it would be nice if the authorities could support him.”

A Swindon Council spokesman said: “Mr Lake has been asked on several occasions to stop writing his poetry on the paving stones, but he has ignored all of those requests.

"The police have also asked him to remove some of the poetry, which was deemed to be offensive.

"Our Streetsmart team have been cleaning off the chalk every evening for the past two weeks at a cost approaching £2,000.

“We will take the appropriate action if Mr Lake persists in writing his poetry on a council asset, which has benefited from significant investment in order to improve the public realm for those visiting the town centre.”

This year’s four-day festival will also feature great English and American poets including Don Share and David Morley on the line-up along with former XTC star Barry Andrews.

A drag king night also takes place with hosts including performance artist Diane Torr.

Hilda, from Old Town, said: “I like to have an experimental approach to poetry and try different things to connect to people.”

For more information about the festival, visit swindonfestivalofpoetry.co.uk/2014-programme/