Police and councillors are up in arms after disgusting graffiti was sprayed on the front of a Town Hall and portaloos were set alight in a town centre.

Darwen West Labour Councillor, Cllr Dave Smith, who photographed the graffiti, said businesses are having a hard time as it is without 'being targeted by idiots'.

The graffiti, which was sprayed in huge black letters, accused a person (whose name we have omitted from the image) of being a 'big fat nonce'.

Police were made aware of the criminal damage and arrested a teenage girl on Thursday morning, while Cllr Smith has asked for the spray paint to be removed as soon as possible.

Sergeant Shaun Pearson of Darwen Neighbourhood Policing Team said: "Between 6.15am and 6.45am on Thursday we received reports of a group of approximately five children causing some issues on Railway Road and being anti-social.

"They had come down to the town centre and were putting spray paint on the portaloos and had also set a small fire in one of them.

"Patrols turned up and gave chase to the youngsters and one female child was arrested.

"Later in the day we got reports of spray paint being applied to three vehicles and a house in the Avondale area, and one closer to the town centre."

Sgt Pearson said the paint in question is black in colour and police are now linking the events.

Over the last two weeks, as lockdown has eased slightly and more people have been returning to Darwen town centre, officers have seen a resurgence in children and teens in and around the town centre.

He said: "The majority of these kids have been behaving, catching up with each other etc, but there's a small anti-social group, some of whom were causing trouble at the start of the year.

"We are actively targeting this group whilst liaising with our youth offending team."

Cllr Smith said it was good that the police were taking action against the youths that continue to 'spoil the town centre'.

He said: "They are spoiling the town centre for other people and have been a constant nuisance since the start of the year.

"They disappeared during lockdown but now they seem to be coming back.

"It's great the police are tackling these youths but businesses are having a hard enough time without being targeted by idiots like this."