Mindless yobs used bricks to smash windows in an early morning attack on a popular town centre bar.

Vandals hurling ‘bricks and rubble’ broke eight windows at the ibar in Accrington costing the owners around £1,500 in repairs.

The attack happened at around 1.30am on a night the bar had not opened.

Mark Knibbs, North West area manager for Bravo Inns Limited which runs the Warner Street pub told the Observer that in three years in the job he had never before encountered the scale of damage to one of their businesses.

He said: “It was in the early hours, most of the windows were put through and the large floor-to-ceiling glass window was smashed and there was a damage inside from the bricks being thrown through the windows. It seems random, we hadn’t been open that night so it’s not like we had ejected anyone from the premises.”

Mark said they were first alerted to the incident via Facebook and it has been reported to the police.

Officers have been passed CCTV from the business. Mark said: “They were throwing heavy items, bricks, rubble through the window, it was just mindless vandalism. It hasn’t really affected trading too much as we’ve stayed open but has made it look very unsightly.

“It is quite expensive to fix, probably between £1,000 and £1,500. We have had to order all the glass specially.” He said works to repair the windows were due to be carried out on Wednesday, August 23.

Mark added: “We have got 42 businesses over the North West. We have had occasional damage and some of the other businesses have had windows put through before but never on the scale of what’s happened with ibar. “It’s vandalism, but it’s not petty to us because it’s a concern for our business. Unfortunately if people decide to break our windows there is not a lot we can do about it.”

Lancashire Police said the criminal damage had occurred in the early hours of Thursday, August 10. A spokesperson said: “It happened about 1.30am in the early hours of that day. “They threw bricks into the ground floor windows of the premises and made off from the scene. “The incident is still under investigation.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting log number 292 of August 10.