POLICE were hunting vandals who attacked two police vehicles in Nelson over the weekend.

Officers had been attending genuine call outs in the Every Street area on Saturday and Sunday and returned to their vehicles to find windows had been smashed.

Today, Inspector Richard Clare appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

On Saturday, police were responding to a call about a potential stolen vehicle at around 7pm. When they returned to their Ford Transit van, which had been parked on Every Street, near Victoria Street, they found the windscreen had been smashed.

Then on Sunday police were called to a disturbance in Lowther Street at about 6.15pm.

When they got back to their Vauxhall Astra they found the back window had been smashed.

Police believe the damage was caused by stones and suspect the same offender may have done both. They stressed that officers had been out on genuine jobs and it was simply vandalism.

Inspector Clare said: "Officers had been deployed and came back to find the vehicles had been damaged.

"We are making inquiries into who is responsible and if the public has any information we would be grateful to receive it.

"It's council taxpayers money which is going to pay for the damage and not only is it expensive but it also takes those vehicles off the road and so reduces our capacity to respond to people's calls."

Anyone with information should contact police at Nelson on 01282 425001 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.