The Deputy Mayor of Invercargill believes the parents of the teenagers responsible for a tyre slashing spree in the town need to take responsibility for their children.

Six teenagers aged 13 and 14 have been arrested for slashing 18 tyres in the city overnight.

Invercargill's Deputy Mayor Darren Ludlow says, with these crimes being committed well after midnight, these children should have been in bed.

"Part of what the problem comes down to is that parents aren't checking what their children are doing at night."