Written by Phil Mills, and published on the This Is Brighton and Hove site at http://www.thisisbrighton.co.uk/

A graffiti vandal has been filmed in action by a member of the public fed up with seeing the city vandalised. He handed his videotape to police and today they released footage to us in the hope of identifying the offender. It is the second time police have issued pictures as they step up their campaign to catch graffiti culprits and clean-up the city. The first photograph was of a man responsible for a "bouncing doughnut" tag.

Brighton City Centre Business Forum is offering a £500 reward for his capture and hundreds of posters have been put up round the city. The latest villain caught on film is behind a 'NUT NUT' tag which has sprung up in several parts of Brighton. The member of the public filmed the vandal in action in The Level. Sergeant Steve French of Brighton police said: "We are extremely grateful to the member of the public and we would urge others to help us.

"Graffiti makes the city look seedy and run-down and it encourages other acts of vandalism. "We have launched the Safer Streets campaign which includes a crackdown on beggars and drunks and one of our main targets at the moment is graffiti vandals." NUT NUT's image of a child with a speech bubble recently appeared in Bartholomew Square. Tony Mernagh, spokesman for the forum, said his group might consider offering a reward for the NUT NUT offender once the Bouncing Doughnut vandal had been caught. He said: "People in this city are fed up to the back teeth with the mess these people make. "They are angry that their community is being damaged and destroyed. I realise this may not be the most heinous crime and no one dies but it has a substantial effect. "Coupled with street drinking and begging, it all adds up to an enormous negative effect on visitors, residents and people who work here."

The Bouncing Doughnut vandal has cost the city thousands of pounds in repairs, say police. He was caught spraying paint on a wall in Western Road, Hove, by a hidden police camera. Superintendent Graham Cox, Hove police commander, said the vandal was suspected of at least 15 graffiti attacks. He said the police, the business forum, the city council and youth services had united to launch an anti-graffiti strategy. It will include covert camera operations, multiple criminal and civil prosecutions, mass clean-ups and intelligence gathering. The man responsible for the NUT NUT tags is 20 to 26, 5ft 10in tall and slim with short, dark hair. In the video he wore jeans, a multi-coloured top and a jacket.