Windows smashed in vandalism spree

Police were first called at 8.40pm after residents heard the sound of glass at Royal Victoria Hotel in St Mary's Street in Newport.

It appeared a traffic cone had been thrown at a double-glazed window, breaking the outer pane of glass on Wednesday.

Shortly afterwards, a resident called police having witnessed two males, described as being in their mid-teens, break the windows on a Renault Clio parked on the car park opposite the Cosy Hall community building in Water Lane.

However, they had disappeared by the time officers arrived at the scene.

At the car park near to the children's play area, a Vauxhall Corsa and a Suzuki Alto had their rear windscreens smashed and the door mirrors were broken off the Corsa.

It was also discovered that another window had been broken at the nearby Cosy Hall.

The offenders then appear to have made their way to Barnmeadow Road on the eastern edge of town. At about 11pm a blue BMW was attacked on the car park near Shuker field, with the rear windscreen being smashed and body panels dented.

The owner was alerted by the car alarm sounding and saw two males running off towards Meadow Road.

Once in Meadow Road, a blue Nissan X-Trail was targeted and the front windscreen of that vehicle was also smashed.

The latest spree comes after a number of cars were vandalised around the town at the start of the month.

Constable Lee Thomas, a West Mercia Police officer whose beat is in Newport, said: "This is clearly a despicable set of crimes which have caused untold inconvenience to a number of victims.

"Our team has been out conducting inquiries in the areas where the attacks have taken place and looking for clues and witnesses.

"We have identified that various people saw two or three teenage males acting suspiciously in the relevant locations.

"We are aware that four young males were stopped by officers while conducting searches for the offenders last night but that the inquiries are ongoing.

"So far it is believed that the offenders are aged 14 to 16, and we must ask parents to think whether they knew what their children were up to that night and if they could have been involved.

"At this time we cannot say if these latest crimes are connected to the previous incidents of damage being caused to cars around town, but clearly we need the public's help to stop those responsible before any further damage is caused."

Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to call police on 101.