AN unsuspecting vandal has been caught on camera spraying graffiti on properties along Cambria Bridge in the early hours of the morning.

The man targeted the street at 6.30am on Saturday, March 29 when he assumed nobody was watching, but did not realise he was being filmed in the act.

Decorator Martin Telling, of Cambria Place, set up a camera outside his property six months ago after he noticed an increase in anti-social behaviour in the area.

And after checking the footage early that morning, he spotted two men walking along the side of the road, before splitting off into separate directions.

One then crossed the street and quickly left his mark on a wall and a garage door, which Martin, 42, had only painted the day before. After inspecting the street Martin realised a number of the tags, made in silver paint, had been left in the area, and immediately called the police to pass on the footage.

A 19-year-old man has since been arrested and interviewed.

Martin said: “I put the camera up just for a bit of peace of mind, because there is a lot of stuff going on outside my flat at all times of day.

“There are always people hanging around the alleyways out there and arguing, and we have had lots of graffiti and criminal damage around here recently”

Martin went out that morning to repaint the garage door, and was surprised to find when he looked at the footage again that one of the offenders walked right by his front door moments later, looking directly into the camera.

“I called the police straight away when I saw it, and they have taken the footage away to have a look at,” he said.

“Later I played the whole thing through and I realised one of them came right past my house and looked into the camera. “It doesn’t capture everything, and they disappear off round the corner for a while before coming back. “With graffiti if you see them doing it they need to be found out, especially because of the time of day.

“They had done some further up the road before they got to me, as well as on the wall of the house opposite and further down the road. “They did one on a garage I had painted the day before, so I just had to go back out there and paint it again.

PC Jansen Carter, beat manager for the town centre, said: “A 19-year-old male has now been arrested and interviewed in relation to these matters and is currently on police bail until May 6 pending further investigations.”

Anyone with information about the graffiti should phone Wiltshire Police on 101.