Written by Bruce Smith, and published on the This Is Leeds site at http://www.thisisleeds.co.uk/ Thursday, 5 July 2001, 09:50 AM

GRAFFITI gangs threatening to smother Leeds in a flood of illegal street art are employing the Internet to promote their activities.

The Yorkshire Evening Post, in conjunction with the council's Leedswatch CCTV network, recently featured pictures of two men posing for photos in front of a new daubing by Woodhouse Lane.

And only last weekend graffiti artists' handiwork led to some train services having to be withdrawn.

Now CrimeFile can reveal that the vandals who daily target local walls, buildings and signs and cost ratepayers £100,000 a year in cleansing bills are displaying their work on the Internet.

A Leeds-based group who call themselves the Nocturnal Kan Addicts (NKA) is behind the site.

It features the work of graffiti artists operating in Leeds who use the identity tags Kon, Isk, Mek, Hak and Spaf.

In its welcome to those who log on to it, the site explains that until recently people may wrongly have thought there were not many vandals of significance in Leeds.

A man it calls Mr Kon is said to have launched NKA and boasts they are "definitely on a mission" before adding that "Leeds is gonna be the place".

It then congratulates all the others whose tags can be clearly seen across the city before proclaiming: "It Ain't A Crime If Ya Don't Get Caught."

The site's news page gives updates on recent additions to the file and comments on the comings and goings of various well-known names on the scene.

It also refers to a gathering apparently staged earlier this year of graffiti artists at a pub close to Leeds University and promises to try to stage another event shortly. Each of the artists featured on the site includes pictures of their efforts on the city's walls and trains.

In last weekend's attack on Arriva trains in sidings off Fitzwilliam Street, Huddersfield, several carriages were targeted and one was so badly hit it had to be taken out of service and brought to Leeds for cleaning.

Most of the name tags were unclear, but some including NKA, MK/CV, MK, SDC, ATS and Dead Sharp were visible.

British Transport Police have launched an investigation and PC John Phillips urged witnesses or anyone with information to ring 0800 405040.