BASINGSTOKE'S streets should be a pleasure for art-lovers to walk around with its abundance of outdoor sculptures.

There are over 50 works of art dotted in and around the town centre and Basingstoke council has produced a special booklet promoting the works.

However, there are concerns in some quarters that many of these works of art are starting to look a little worse for wear because of stickers and graffiti.

The Basingstoke Heritage Society is now calling on the council to take more care of the town's artworks.

Heritage society committee member Hannah Williams has welcomed the new booklet, which gives a history of the art works, but has called on the council to keep the public art in tip-top condition.

She said: "The thing that disturbs me is that we have these fairly amazing works of art but some of them are not very well-looked after. The Wote Street one is invariably covered in stickers.

"The Family in London Street is almost foolproof when it comes to vandals, but there is a basin there that is covered in cigarette ends."

Mrs Williams added that the works are a great feature of the town and that residents as well as the council have a duty to look after them. She hopes the booklet will get more people to appreciate Basingstoke's public art works.

She said: "The council produced that booklet and I think it's delightful. I keep giving them to everyone I know who would like them. The council is very good at producing these things but I do not think they are that good at promoting them."

The council currently spends about £40,000 a year cleaning graffiti from buildings, street furniture and the public art works.

Blanche Miles, principal education and enforcement officer at the council, said graffiti was removed as soon as possible and she called on residents to report it whenever they saw it.

She said: "The council is not prepared to allow this situation to go on and continues to work with the police to apprehend and bring to court those people who commit this criminal damage.

Incidences of graffiti are brought to the attention of the council through our Street Care teams and our community wardens."

Anyone who knows of a graffiti problem can report it to the Customer Contact Centre on 01256 845474.