YOBS armed with bricks, wood and lumps of concrete caused tens of thousands of pounds' damage to 12 new vans parked in a compound.

The vandals threw lumps of heavy masonry, wood and bricks over the fence of the car compound in Hambro Hill, Rayleigh, which is owned by the Essex Autogroup.

The attack left ten Ford Transit vans and two Ford Tourneo vans with dented bodywork, smashed windscreens, broken bumpers, smashed headlights and trashed wheel-trims.

It is possible some of the vans have been damaged so badly they cannot be sold to the public and will be written off.

The company faces a bill of up to £260,000 for the damage.

Essex Autogroup chairman Phillip Maskell said: "We feel pretty strongly about this sort of needless and unnecessary behaviour, which was entirely unprovoked.

"Presumably it was a group of young people with nothing better to do, who chose to have some fun at our expense.

"We would encourage people to report any information to the police and we will be working with officers to stop this from happening again."

Rochford Acting Insp Richard Baxter said: "This is wilful vandalism on a scale unprecedented in Rayleigh and totally out of keeping with the town, which is a low-crime area.

"Because it is such an exceptional occurrence, it is likely people will have seen or heard something in and around the premises last weekend.

"I would urge them to contact us, however insignificant the information may seem. It is important we catch these people as soon as possible."

Anyone with any information about the incident, which happened between 10pm on Friday, Feb 29, and 8am on Monday, March 3, can call police on 01702 431212 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

l Essex Autogroup is an organisation incorporating Essex Ford, Essex Mazda, Fiat Southend, Rayleigh Jaguar Service Centre, Dunton Land Rover Service Centre and Dunton Volvo Service Centre.