Nurses and security staff who had just finished a gruelling night shift at a hospital found their cars and scooters damaged as they left work on Christmas Eve morning.
Most of the vehicles parked on as estate near the Royal Derby Hospital were damaged in a flurry of seemingly random attacks.
Security officer Micky Williams returned from a 12-hour shift at 7am to find a nurse examining his car, having thought the damage to his wing mirror had been caused by her scraping past it.
But on further inspection, Mick noticed the two windows on the right-hand side had been smashed in too, with shards of glass in every direction.
Half a golf club had been left on the floor by the back seats.
Mick rang the police immediately, who advised him to leave the car where it was, but in fear of getting a parking ticket, he drove it home.
It’s been sitting on his drive untouched since.
He’s had to walk to work or get lifts from his son and will have no method of transport until his insurance company can step in.
He said: “When I saw it I just felt disgusted. Nothing’s been taken and that makes it more unbearable to deal with. It’s just mindless vandalism. I don’t see what they’ve gained from it.”
Despite the damage, the vandals didn’t take anything from the car.
Mick’s Bluetooth hands-free connector was still where it had been left, and the teddy bears on the dashboard were untouched.
Micky has been parking in the same spot, on Southmead Way, for years and has never encountered a problem before.
The spaces on the street are free overnight, so many hospital staff use them to save money on staff car park charges.
To add further insult to injury, Micky must pay the £345 excess out of his own pocket.
He said: “That’s the really annoying bit about it. It was the night before Christmas and the cost of living is going up.
"You’re trying to think of how you can save money and some lunatic causes £400 worth of damage you could do without. I’m still angry about it.
“It very nearly ruined Christmas Day.
"That morning I thought there was no point to it. I thought there was no point in celebrating because I'd be in a mood. But I couldn't let it ruin my day.”
Micky posted photographs of his damaged car in a hospital staff Facebook group.
It was then that similar reports flooded in and it became apparent he wasn’t the only one.
One staff member said they spotted five different piles of glass on Southmead Way and nearby on Christmas Eve, while others posted photos of their damaged windows.
Bike and moped owners said their vehicles had been damaged too in apparent attempted - and failed - thefts.
Derbyshire police confirmed the force is investigating the spate of incidents.
The spokesman said five incidents had been reported officially.
He said: "Four of the incidents took place overnight between 23 December and 24 December and involved four cars having their windows smashed before being searched – another incident saw an attempt to steal a moped.
"The cars were parked close to the Aldi store, while the moped was parked in Car Park two of the hospital.
'Since the incident increased patrols have taken place while enquiries continue into the crimes."
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact the force by calling 101.
