Desborough coach firm facing six-figure bill after mindless vandals smash up 17 double-deckers

Mindless vandals left a Desborough coach firm counting the cost after breaking into their yard and smashing up 17 double-deckers.

Hamiltons Coaches say their repair bill could be about £100,000 after more than 100 windows were damaged in the shocking incident last week.

They’re now offering a reward of £1,000 for any information that leads to those involved being convicted.

Owner Minesh Uka said: “This behaviour cannot be tolerated.”

The vandalism took place at the Hamiltons Coaches yard in Pipewell Road, with part of the incident being caught on CCTV at about 5.25pm on Thursday, April 13.

Three males wearing dark clothing and with their hoods up – possible aged in their mid-teens – were seen walking along the upstairs level of a bus before smashing windows.

They had entered the yard by breaking a fence and damaged a total of 124 windows.

The firm – which runs school buses, private hire coaches and day trips – has had to borrow coaches from other companies to provide school transport this morning.

Mr Uka said that they are due to receive a quote to repair the damage later today and that they are expecting it to be about £100,000, adding that the man who came out to assess the damage had never seen so many windows vandalised.

He said: "We have had to put the wages of our drivers up, fuel has gone up and parts have gone up. Everything has gone up.

"We just really did not need this. It’s a lot of money.”

Mr Uka blamed the incident on ‘badly-behaved’ kids and urged people to check their CCTV, doorbell and dash-cam footage to try and identify the culprits.

He added: "It’s not as if they have just done a couple of windows. It’s 17 vehicles that are now out of order.”

A Northamptonshire Police spokesman confirmed that they are investigating the criminal damage and that no arrests have been made.

They urged witnesses or anyone with information to contact them 101, quoting incident number 23000224105, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.