VANDALS wreaked havoc in Great Harwood when they started a blaze in a car yard that forced another business to evacuate its premises.

The thugs struck when they burned out four scrap cars in N J Auto Repairs after smashing their way in through a concrete wall.

Nigel Haworth, the outraged owner, hit out at police, claiming he is "banging his head against a brick wall" when it comes to getting their help. It was the third time in 18 months that vandals had broken into his premises.

Mr Haworth, who has owned the business in Queen Street for seven years, said: "The vandalism just goes on and on. Last year the police caught five youngsters who broke in and smashed some cars up but they just got cautions."

"I am fighting a losing battle when it comes to the police. When I arrived after the fire the police drove off without speaking to me. So I went to Great Harwood Police Station but it was closed."

He said he is lost for a solution to the repeated vandalism, but plans to install CCTV cameras to catch those wrecking his business, which supplies spare parts to the motor trade.

The break-in happened at 7.15pm on Monday just days after vandals last struck.

Mr Haworth said: "Last weekend they smashed the wall down so I rebuilt it and put new barbed wire on. But that didn't stop them. Last year I lost about £2,500 in stock because of the break-ins and this fire has had another impact on my stock.''

David Hudson, health and safety officer at Metflex Precision Mouldings, which had to evacuate, said: "Our supervisor saw the smoke getting into the building and called the Fire Brigade."

"Because of the build-up of smoke we evacuated everybody into the yard and stopped production for about an hour until the smoke had left the building."

"It is disappointing that children can break in to the yard and cause such damage and disruption to other people. It's terrible that the actions of a few silly kids can have such an effect."

Sergeant Steve Barker, of Great Harwood Police, said efforts were made to contact Mr Haworth after the fire, but he had been unavailable.

He said: "In something like this we would liaise with the Fire Brigade. However, the job is ongoing and has been marked up for a revisit."