I am so depressed about our apparent inability in the UK to tackle the problem of graffiti.

On a recent visit to study the extensive pre-school education provision in a number of states of the USA I was surprised and delighted to see very little graffiti or tagging.

In Philadelphia I saw an exciting project which encouraged young people to work with artists to improve their neigbourhood, www.muralarts.org.

People told me that if any graffiti was reported on public or private buildings, it was guaranteed to be removed within 24 hours. This worked.

I am extremely embarrassed when showing visitors around our city. If they can tackle the problem in the USA surely our council can learn from others?

-Mari Booker, Portslade