They vandalised homes, cars, a children’s nursery, a hospital, signs and shop windows.

But now two of the most prolific graffiti yobs in Sussex, responsible for more than £34,000 of damage, are behind bars.

Richard Markwick 19, and Matthew Fowler, 32, left their "tags" across Brighton and Hove and also targeted the railway line between the city and Lancing, where they live.

Police and council officers logged nearly 250 tags left by the pair.

Armed with spray paint and permanent marker pens they vandalised anything from homes, charity shops to parking meters, even targeting a children's nursery and also a lift at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

They sprayed property at railway stations, along the tracks and inside the tunnels.

They also left their marks while travelling on trains, including on seats, doors and toilets.

As well as paint, they sometimes scratched their tags with etching equipment.

At Lewes Crown Court Markwick, who used the tag Syloe, admitted 15 charges of criminal damage and asked for 11 other offences to be taken into consideration. He was sent to a young offenders’ institution for 15 months.

Fowler, who used the name Posh, admitted nine charges and was jailed for 18 months.

They were both made the subject of a three-year Asbo banning them from carrying paint, marker pens or etching equipment, in public unless for work or educational reasons.

Judge Guy Anthony told the pair there was no artistic merit in their tags and the offences they committed were antisocial and upset the public.

He described their behaviour as "mindless vandalism" and said their offences were not without victims as the public had to pay to clear up the damage.

The court was told the men's "art" cost thousands of pounds to clear up in the past three years. British Transport Police estimate the cost to the railways was at least £25,000, including almost £9,000 for a six-mile stretch of track between Lancing and Worthing.

The cost of the damage in Brighton and Hove and Lancing is more than £8,000.

Both men have previous convictions for graffiti offences. Last August Fowler was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail after admitting nine charges.

They were arrested together in March last year at the one-bedroom flat their shared in Warren Court, Sompting Road, Lancing. Police found cans of spray paint and a collection of marker pens. The walls of the flat were covered in graffiti "art."

They were released on bail but because they continued to tag they were arrested again in September and remanded in custody until they were sentenced.