Mindless vandals have gone on a keying spree in a Lanarkshire town, leaving several cars damaged.
Furious Larkhall locals woke up to see deep scrapes along the sides of their vehicles, costing hundreds of pounds to repair.
And Lanarkshire Live understands this to be a recurring issue in recent weeks, with three cars reportedly targeted since January 15.
One resident found the side of her car scraped last week on Morgan Street and is calling the deliberate act "ridiculous".
Ainslie Russell tried contacting her neighbours and nearby shops for CCTV to no avail, leaving her frustrated in her search for the culprits.
She told Lanarkshire Live : “Ever since I posted what happened, a few people have come forward to say the same has happened to them.
“One woman said she found her car with a big score up it as well. We don’t know where to go, police can only give us a crime reference number for our insurers.
“One of my neighbours has a CCTV camera but it only covers his driveway, so there’s not a lot we can do to find out who’s done it. It’s ridiculous."
It is thought that the vandals may be youths out in about in local streets or people walking home from a local pub, as Ainslie recalls hearing people outside her window the night her car was damaged.
She added: “It was a Saturday night, so I was just expecting it to be people passing by who have maybe had a drink.
“I heard people passing being loud and I was lying in bed but didn’t think much of it so I left it. Then I got up the next morning and there was a huge big mark down the side of my car, it was quite deep.
“You never know why people do it these days. It’s just crazy.
“People have started looking out for their cars more often now as they’re hearing it’s happening more.
“People have suggested getting driveways or cameras or make some adjustments to the house but it’s not as easy with a council property and nobody has the money to do that anyway, and I can’t lay awake all night in case something happens. It’s honestly a catch-22 situation."
Another resident in nearby John Street says she was "angered" to find her and her neighbours car also keyed by vandals.
Incidences have also been reported in Croft Place and MacNeil Street in the town recently.
Ainslie hopes to see more police patrolling the area to prevent such reckless behaviour in future. She continued: “The area is pretty quiet and mainly elderly. We checked to see if anyone had seen anything but nothing has came of it.
“I think there needs to be a lot more police in Larkhall. There’s never enough there when you need them.
“If there were a larger police presence in Larkhall, there would be less youths roaming about the streets doing these things, cause there’s nothing for them to do in Larkhall.
“It would also be good to have more cameras in some streets to make us feel a bit safer with these things.
“It’s been bad the last couple of months and we don’t know if it’s the same people that’s doing it or are people just getting bored and going out wrecking cars? We don’t know.”
Police Scotland have been contacted over the matter in Larkhall.
**Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did yo u know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Head over to our page to give us a like and share.
