Residents who offered a $1,000 reward to find the people responsible for the growing problem of graffiti near their homes have passed on a name to Police.

Members of the Flatts Village Development Committee received an anonymous tip-off naming the culprit behind the vandalism and graffiti on the bridge and bus shelters in the village.

Yesterday they liaised with CrimeStoppers in the hope that he would be interviewed by Police.

The Royal Gazette reported on Monday how the residents had become so tired of the graffiti, they decided to take action themselves.

The group offered $500 out of committee funds as a reward, which was matched by an anonymous donor.

Chairman of the group W.A. (Toppy) Cowen said yesterday: "We got a call from an anonymous person just hours after the story appeared in The Royal Gazette .

"We are passing it on to CrimeStoppers because they are experts in this field and we are not. We feel they will be able to assist us and maybe someone will be apprehended. They should feel the full weight of the law.'' He added that it proved people-power could really work.

Mr. Cowen said: "Just the fact that someone gave us a name is something. We will see what happens now.

"We just felt it was about time something was done to stop the graffiti. It looks terrible and is not good for Bermuda.'' At the weekend, Mr. Cowen also called on schools to take action to prevent youngsters vandalising property on their way home in the evenings.

He suggested teachers, prefects or even teams of security men escort children to the bus stops at night to keep them in check.

At the very least, he said, peer pressure could be used.

But Gail Graham, principal of Whitney Institute Middle School in Smith's, said the issue was not as straightforward as that.

She said teachers at the school regularly lectured pupils on the wrongs of vandalism and graffiti and assured the residents that a hard line was taken on anyone found doing so.

However security teams were too expensive and peer pressure did not always work, she added.

Ms Graham said: "Teachers already go with the pupils to the two main bus stops at the top of the hill to ensure they arrive safely and to make sure there are no problems. The safety of the children is our main concern.

"But we cannot patrol all the bus stops in the neighbourhood. There are not enough of us and bringing in a security firm would be difficult -- who would pay for it? "I understand what the residents are saying and appreciate their concerns about the graffiti. I can assure them we already take a hard line and regularly talk to the children about it.

"If we find any graffiti, it is cleaned off straight away and, if we know who is to blame for it, then that is who does the cleaning.'' She said children in the 13-and 14-year-old age bracket were most likely to be found writing graffiti, so she accepted that some children at her school may be to blame but said catching them doing it was the problem.

Ms Graham added that she believed writing graffiti was part of the Bermudian culture.

She stressed that the children at her school had been warned not to deface public property and said she felt they should be made to take responsibility for their own actions -- not be protected from doing wrong by a security team.

She said experience had taught her that using peer pressure to combat the problem would not work, for pupils feared repercussions if they told tales.

Ms Graham said: "We work with Keep Bermuda Beautiful when we go out on clean-up days. One of the community services we do on a regular basis is clean up the neighbourhood bus shelters and, when necessary, paint them.''