Wall of filth - yards from cop shop

Northern Constabulary HQ

YOBS have defaced a 200-metre stretch of shop walls with graffiti right under the noses of the top brass at police HQ.

The vandalism is all the way along the rear wall at the Inshes Retail Park which is overlooked by Northern Constabulary's main police station.

And the damage, which will cost thousands of pounds to fix, includes graphic images and homophobic slurs.

One cheeky yob has even sprayed "Sorry about your wall".

But despite hundreds of unsightly scrawlings being only a few metres away from the Old Perth Road police base, cops say the store chains have failed to report the crime - even though the area is covered by the stores' own CCTV cameras.

The buildings which have been targeted house clothing store Matalan and shoe retailers Deichmann Shoes and Brantano Footwear.

None of the shop managers were allowed to speak to the Highland News about the graffiti and calls to their head offices were met with "no comment" responses.

However, shop workers said they were fed up with the mess.

One said: "It is horrid having to come to work and see this every day. It's not a nice way to start the day.

"The main bulk of the graffiti was done in one night and it is obviously by the same group of people, but since then it has been added to and added to. There was one quote to get it cleaned up which came to about £3,000."

Another worker added: "It is so cheeky as it's right opposite the police station. It just keeps happening."

One local resident, who lives in the nearby Inshes estate and shops regularly at the retail park, tipped us off about the damage after reading our story last week about the "inc" trail of graffiti.

He said: "This is disgusting and it's been done right under the noses of the police across the road. The vandals have some brass neck. Surely this has to be the worst graffiti in Inverness?

"It stretches along the back wall of four shop units. It's clearly been done by teenagers and it looks as though it's generally been done by the same people as many of the tags are the same and the writing is similar."

A spokesman for Northern Constabulary said: "We have not had any reports of vandalism at these units. We would ask anyone who has witnessed these incidents being carried out or who knows who may be responsible to get in touch either confidentially at Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or by calling their local police station."