INSPECTOR David Moses, Gwent Police's community safety officer for Monmouthshire and Torfaen, said the cost of the damage was "unsurprising".

"Vandalism accounts for a quarter of all recorded crime, and it's worth remembering that there are many incidents which go unreported," he said.

"Clearly there is a direct increase in the fear of crime for local residents when an area is targeted by vandals and this in turn is reflected in a downturn in peoples" quality of life," he said.

"When an area becomes vandalised it tends to attract further damage and the situation is perpetuated, much to the misery of residents."

Inspector Moses said officers were working alongside the council and probation service to improve the situation.

The newest initiative the police are running in the area is A Cleaner Safer Monmouthshire, which has already seen the probation service clean up 33 sites in the county. The scheme is being extended to Torfaen.

"The teams made up of offenders don't just clean graffiti, they clear litter as well.

"It's important residents see offenders putting something back into the community - it shows community service is not an easy option."

David Bidgood works with the youth offending team across Gwent.

He said the idea was to encourage young people to take ownership of their amenities and by doing so, learn to respect the environment.

Youngsters work in teams and clear up eyesore areas.

"For any resident, the sight of a graffiti-covered underpass is a worrying site - it increases the fear of crime."

Mr Bidgood said a team would be tackling the graffiti at the Cowshed Lane scout hut in Newport next week.

In Oakfield shopping centre, Cwmbran, a team cleared up graffiti and vandalism in January, and it still remains untouched.

"It is better," agreed local councillor Barbara Ryan.

"Sadly, though, we have lost businesses because of the way it was and that has a knock-on effect.

"Hopefully it will stay clean but the graffiti has returned before.

"And the problem and cost tends to move somewhere else. The shops are better but the windows of our community hall are continually being smashed.

"The cost of replacing them means another hall in Torfaen will lose out."

Cheryl Evans, who runs a hairdresser in the Oakfield centre, agreed the clear-up had helped but said: "We used to have a telephone box but they took it away because it was always being vandalised."