A businessman is offering a £500 reward to catch graffiti taggers as civic leaders step up their battle to stamp out vandalism.

Mike Reilly, director of Pep Printers in Tarring Road, Worthing, tabled the cash after having his home vandalised just after it was painted.

He said: "It is in everybody's interest to keep the town looking attractive."

Mr Reilly said he would pay a £500 bounty to anybody giving information to police which leads to the conviction of a graffiti vandal.

He said: "It is a shame all the efforts of the borough council seem to centre on cleaning up rather than nailing culprits.

"Surely it would be cheaper to offer rewards for information leading to convictions. I am convinced this information would come from mercenary members of the graffiti gangs.

"Even if convictions did not follow, the investigation process would act as a deterrent and potential future culprits would be spotlighted."

Last night, councillors agreed to step up their war against graffiti after revealing since September about 760 tags had been removed from public buildings and 310 tags from private property.

But the council's executive was concerned NTL, responsible for kerbside telecommunications cabinets, and rail operators Network Rail and Govia, are not pulling their weight.

Councillor Sheila Player, leader of the council, said a letter would be sent to the companies to encourage action.

Cliff Harrison, the borough's head of technical services, said the council's hit squad had tackled graffiti on buildings adjacent to rail property.

But he said the cost of providing the removal service would escalate considerably if the council had to clean up trackside daubings because workmen would have to be specially trained and accompanied by a Network Rail official for health and safety reasons.

Mr Harrison added: "The problem with NTL is there are hundreds of boxes across the borough. We are in discussion with their senior officers but they have no real budget provision for graffiti removal."

He believed a new Anti-Social Behaviour Bill might in future force firms such as NTL and Network Rail to clean up property under their control.

Councillors have already allocated £60,000 towards the blitz and are now being asked to set aside a similar amount for further operations.

The council's graffiti hotline number is 01903 217900.