Snap Send Solve is a smartphone app that in less than a minute allows the user to become a virtual citizen on patrol.

Available Australia-wide the app automatically detects your location through GPS and sends your report to the relevant council.

Users can choose from a list of incidents, accompanied with an optional photo, and then press send.

The information is sent to the app developer Outware Mobile and forwarded on to council via email at no charge.

Reportable incidents include graffiti, littering, noise and environmental pollution, damaged public property, animals and general feedback and requests.

One report sent to the Launceston City Council on Wednesday states: ``Large shrub blocks view to right when entering Bain Terrace from South Bank''.

Rather than approaching councils to sign up, Outware Mobile collected data of all local government areas.

``If our approach had been to go to every council and get them to sign up we'd still be at zero ,'' company director Danny Gorog said.

The app has 30,000 users and so far 25 incidents have been sent to Launceston City Council via the app.

Snap Send Solve was the result of a competition that required entrants to think of a novel app using publicly available information.

``It's just really easy to use, it gets results and that's what I think people really like. What we find is we have lots of regular reporters as well,'' Mr Gorog said.

``We think councils actually like it because they get a report consisting of a map and generally a photo and they are very easy to act on compared to phone calls where first you have to man a call centre.''

Snap Send Solve is similar to other neighbour watch style apps such as That's Suspicious Behaviour.

The University of Southern California app lets campus users report a ``creepy person, vandal, possible theft, fight and aggressive begging.''