THE owner of a used car dealership in Hull says he is being forced to close down after 23 of his vehicles were vandalised in a wrecking spree.
Pete White says 21 of the damaged cars are beyond repair and estimates the attack could cost him up to £30,000.
He believes a customer with a vendetta could be responsible for the vandalism, which saw:
84 tyres slashed.
Front and back seats slashed.
Wiper and indicator sticks snapped off.
Dashboard vents kicked in.
Paint stripper poured over roofs.
Panels scratched.
Mr White, who only launched Cars 4 Less, near Plimsoll Ship Inn, in Witham, east Hull, six months ago, said: "This was not vandalism carried out by 16-year-olds.
"You can tell by the type of damage that whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing and how to inflict maximum damage."
Mr White, who did not want to be pictured by the Mail for fear of possible recriminations, says he left the business at 5pm on Monday and discovered the damage at 9am the next day.
He said: "I felt like crying.
"When I turned up, I saw a couple of tyres had been slashed. I could deal with that. Then I walked around and saw the other damage. I was totting up the damage."
Mr White, of east Hull, believes £10,000 of damage was caused, although he says the cars, if sold, could have fetched £30,000.
He said: "We have not been open long and were just starting to make money.
"It's just not worth getting the cars repaired. It could happen again.
"If it was just one or two cars I could get them repaired.
"But it would take a month or two to get all these cars re-sprayed and back into saleable condition. I am going to cut my losses and sell the cars for scrap – I might get a couple of hundred quid for each one.
"That's the end of the business."
Wiring that feeds a security floodlight had been cut by the vandals, said Mr White.
Damage was caused to four Vauxhalls, four Renaults, three Fiats, three Fords, two Nissans, two Skodas, one Volvo, one Land Rover, one Mini, one Mercedes and one Hyundai.
A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: "A number of cars were damaged at Cars 4 Less in Witham between 5pm on March 11 and 9am on March 12.
"It is estimated about 23 cars were damaged and anyone with information can call 101, quoting crime reference 1962633."
