PETE Fry was so fed up with people brushing graffiti artists off as vandals that he decided to do something to help them showcase their talents.

The 34-year-old of Abbey Meads handed his VW camper van over to three men who are often seen with spray cans in their hands and 10 hours later it had been transformed into a work of art.

Mr Fry, an electrical contractor, wanted to give the guys something to work on after reading about a spate of graffiti that's been hitting the town recently.

"Over the last month or so the Adver's had quite a few stories about graffiti that's been sprayed on homes and public buildings and I think instantly people get a certain impression about the people behind it," he said.

"I think when people read about graffiti artists they immediately think they're thugs who don't work and just hang about all day.

"But this isn't true and I wanted to be able to show people how talented some of them really are."

Ever since he was 18 the dad-of-two has been a VW enthusiast and has entered camper vans and Beetles into competitions.

So he decided instead of forking out £1,000 to have his latest model sprayed he would get in touch with three of the most well-known graffiti artists in the town.

"I got in touch with the youth service who introduced me to the three guys," said Mr Fry.

"They came round to my house to look at the camper and have a chat about what they could do.

"I had already decided not to get involved with the design because I wanted it to be all their own work.

"On the first day they must have spent about six hours working away then the next day about another four.

"One of them did all the drawings and the other two had their own style of writing which they did."

After working flat out all weekend the van was finished and it features huge red lips and Mr Fry's children, Tommy, eight, and Tia, five, have had their names sprayed on the back.

"The result has been absolutely brilliant," said Mr Fry."

"I know the tagging that goes on around the town doesn't look good but this just shows how talented these blokes are.

"It is art and I think now more people will change their perceptions of the people doing it.

"This is a skill and I think if they had somewhere to exercise it in town like dedicated walls then we wouldn't have all the problems we've been reading about in the paper."

He added: "So far I've only taken the van out twice but I've had a brilliant reaction from people. Even my neighbours love it."

...and here's some we just hate

THIS month the Adver has featured a number of stories about graffiti that has been blighting Swindon's streets.

In just one day our photographers snapped 50 examples of tagging just in Old Town.

Walls, garages, doors and any other surfaces that could be reached were defaced with spray paint.

Residents said the mess had lowered the tone of the area and businesses claimed customers had been put off by it.

The following week we reported Swindon Council's graffiti busting team swept in to clean the area up.

We also reported that the former service station buildings at the Turnpike roundabout had been targeted by "taggers".

And a recent spate in Highworth is thought to be down to one youngster who lives in the town.

Six separate sites, including someone's house, were targeted last week with the words tank bom'.

Highworth street warden, Steve Roberts, was tasked with clearing up the mess in time for the festive season.

But many people, including Youth Information Service coordinator Marie Manser, think if there were more dedicated places for people to spray graffiti set up around Swindon then public buildings wouldn't be targeted like they have been recently.