“DISCONNECTED youngsters” are being blamed for a spate of graffiti tagging that has blighted roads, walls and signs in Boscombe.

Over the past four weeks, a multitude of different graffiti tags have appeared in the area, to the extent that very few roads are now completely unaffected.

Gladstone Road resident Katherine Edgar, who showed us dozens of examples of tagging around her home, believes it is proof that bored youngsters no longer feel part of the community.

“It’s not really graffiti, it’s kids making their presence felt,” she said.

“There’s nothing constructive for them to do, all the youth clubs have shut down, they clearly feel disconnected.”

Katherine is amongst those campaigning to prevent the Boscombe Centre for Community Arts from being replaced with low-cost housing.

She said the plethora of graffiti tags proved the BCCA was a vital community facility.

“We can’t take away services and facilities and not provide an alternative,” she said.

“I’ve lived here for four-and-a-half years and I’ve never seen tagging on this scale. To go from nothing to all this in less than a month is a bit strange.

“It shows how badly we need the BCCA. If the council does not want to restore the site in full with its dedicated arts and workshop space, it should let a third party do it.

“We’ve got 3,000 members supporting us and we’ve got an updated business plan which proves it can be done.”

Sally Turner, Boscombe Project Officer, said they were not aware of an increase in tagging but urged residents and businesses to report incidents on 01202 451199.

She added: “As part of the Boscombe regeneration work many of our partnership projects focus on supporting young people in the community.

“Through our partners and local businesses the council runs and supports many initiatives aimed at young people including the One Community Project by Young Enterprise, which encourages social enterprise and the use of empty units in the Boscombe area.”

A planning application to build housing on part of the BCCA site is currently being considered by planners.

It has been submitted by a community land trust set up by Bournemouth 2026. They say the plans would provide permanent affordable housing to help loc