"I'm very cross about it": Residents tell of fury after damage to their cars

Wing mirrors were smashed on several cars in Lyme Regis during a spate of vandalism in the early hours of Saturday morning, residents say.

Simon West had parked his car at Woodmead Halls car park on Friday, returning on Saturday afternoon to find substantial damage to the mirror, which had been ripped off.

“I’m very cross about it,” said Mr West. “This was my property and it’s been violated. We’ll struggle to pay for it.

“I went onto social media and it looks as though it’s happened to many others. If you add up all that damage it’s a lot of money these vandals have cost our little community. It is a worry that it could happen again. I hope they do catch who did this or it’s a downward spiral for Lyme Regis. I hope they’re caught for our whole community.”

Thomas Gale was also affected. He returned home in the early hours of Saturday morning, parked his car, and returned later that day to find his wing mirrors had also been ripped off.

Mr Gale said: “I live on the High Street and heard some loud noises shortly after getting home at about 1am. I didn’t think anything of it. About 10.30 the next morning I went to my car and found the wing mirror on the floor. I spoke to my neighbour, who also got back quite late the night before, but he did not see anything. It’s quite frustrating and annoying because there’s nothing we can do about it. I would expect there to be CCTV along the High Street - I think there should be.

“I don’t have a parking space by my house but I would not expect something like this to happen in Lyme Regis. It’s a nice place and I work hard to afford to live here and it’s a shame to think I’ll need to worry about this type of thing in the future.

After Mr Gale took to social media to express his anger at the incident, several people responded to say that they too had been affected.

Dorset Police confirmed a report had been received regarding criminal damage to a car parked at Hill Road.