Red paint Creasy calls for help to investigate vandalism

Pattered across a row of homes, the red paint that appeared on the front of houses in north-east London this week was as unwelcome as it was inexplicable.

- Ben Quinn

Yet the vandalism was not confined to this corner of Walthamstow - the second such attack in a fortnight - it mirrors other incidents in communities across the country that have left local people seeking answers from police and local councils.

Similar attacks have taken place in Huddersfield, Bradford, Reading and other London boroughs. In each case, red paint has been thrown over the front doors of houses at night, often accompanied with the daubing of numbers and the word "brothel".