PENSIONERS Kenneth and Margery Ling woke to find racist graffiti painted all over their new garage doors.

But the couple, who are in their late 70s, reckon the attack was a case of mistaken identity - with the vandals really aiming to target the homes of Asian families living nearby in Laurier Road, Burnley.

Mr Ling spent the whole of yesterday trying to remove the scrawl on the metal pull-up garage door which cost him nearly £1,000 just two months' ago.

Retired police officer Mr Ling, who received a message of sympathy and support from Burnley council leader Stuart Caddy, said: "I certainly wish I knew who did this.

"This is a very respectable residential area and we can do without this sort of thing."

Police are investigating the racist incident and stressed that they wanted to nip such offences in the bud, particularly following on from the racist trouble of last month.

Burnley police superintendent Chris Weigh said police took a dim view of the racist vandalism.

"This is completely unacceptable behaviour, particularly at a time of nervousness following recent events in the town."

He added: "People need to be re-assured and we are determined to deal with this kind of activity as quickly as possible."