A gang of vandals went on the rampage, spraying offensive graffiti and causing thousands of pounds' worth of damage.

They painted lewd words and drawings and racist abuse on cars, roads, footpaths and buildings in Durrington, Worthing.

Armed with roller-brushes and white, pink, yellow and orange paint, they defaced a string of properties in the town. Police are offering a £2,000 reward to help catch the culprits.

Two of the worst-hit targets early on Saturday were Tesco and Durrington Community Centre where a spokeswoman said: "I couldn't repeat to you some of the sentences or describe some of the pictures daubed.

"It was all in orange paint. It's disgusting."

Detective Sergeant Tanya Jones said: "This is a terrible crime that has been committed by local youths on the community.

"I would ask residents to assist us by telling us who is responsible. This has caused thousands of pounds of damage. This crime affects residents' quality of life and the police will not tolerate it.

"Every effort will be made to catch these offenders and bring them to justice.

"West Downs police are offering a reward of £2,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of these criminals."

Detective Constable Dave Dowell, who walked around the affected area, said: "It looked absolutely disgraceful."

Kyle Boyd, 16, came back with his parents from holiday to find his house and garage in Eriskay Court daubed.

He said: "Mum and dad were not happy. Then yesterday my dad's car had paint thrown on it. It's all over the walls of the house opposite and the garage."

Another resident said: "It's absolutely unbelievable. There's racist and sex graffiti everywhere. The community centre looks a right mess."

Another resident of Eriskay Court said racist graffiti had been daubed on the gate of an Iranian man's house in the street.

He added: "It must be locals doing this. We've had lots of vandalism here. Our car's headlights were smashed.

"Nothing seems to get done about it."

Two youths have been arrested and bailed pending further inquiries.