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Shepway council have said they will act quickly to remove racist graffiti which appeared close to a children's playground.

In a press release on the Shepway Lib Dem website, Cheriton Councillor Tim Prater demanded that Shepway Council take urgent action to remove a swastika and other racist graffiti from a wall that directly overlooks a children's playground in Cheriton.

Councillor Prater has condemned the graffiti overlooking the Firs Lane playground in Cheriton, Folkestone, and has called on local residents to call the police if they see anyone vandalising the area in this way.

He said: "Shepway Council claim they will prioritise the removal of graffiti such as this - and they should. I hope that it will be removed - and fast.

"It's a fairly sick mind that puts graffiti like this anywhere, but even worse that its overlooking a children's playground. Even by the standards of graffiti taggers used to causing criminal damage and ruining the look of our area, this is a new low.

"If any local resident sees anyone vandalising our area in this way - whether the graffiti is racist or not - they should immediately call the police and give the best description they can. A very few people are dragging down the look of the area, seeming to believe it's their right to paint on walls, phone boxes and more. It's not - and they need to be stopped."

A Shepway Council spokesperson said: "We only had the incident reported to us this morning.

"We do take these incidents very seriously. The policy is that we will aim to tackle offensive graffiti within two working days which actually takes us through to Monday morning.

"However we will be sending someone along tomorrow (25 July) to try to remove the graffiti.

"Anyone who wants to report graffiti can call us on Tel: 01303 858660 or use the online form on our website http://www.shepway.gov.uk/webapp/eforms/graffiti-and-vandalism.php "