A CLASSIC van owner has lashed out at the ‘scum-bag’ vandals who stole and trashed her pride and joy.

Earlier this week, the Leader reported there had been a spate of vandalism and thefts involving classic cars across the Wrexham area.

A similar incident earlier this month saw a classic 1987 Bedford Bambi taken from outside Delilah Jones’s home in Llay during the early hours of August 7, before it was later found by police in the Caia Park area.

Although the vehicle was recovered, it had been badly damaged with the repair bills running into hundreds of pounds, while a neighbours’ classic car was also taken and torched.

She said: “We get the impression it was taken because there are some quite nice cars where we live.

“The lady who lives at the back of ours had a Morris Minor stolen on the same night.

“We put something about it on Twitter, then it must have gone on Facebook because we had a message from a lady to say it was in the car park area behind her house, and some lads had been doing wheel-spins in it while the Morris Minor had been torched.

“I felt lucky mine hadn’t been burnt out. But they had done a lot of damage.”

The damage included a £360 broken window, the vehicle had been reversed into something, items such as cups, a fire extinguisher, parts from the cooker, a child’s car seat and other personal belongings were all broken or thrown out of the window.

Ms Jones added: “What we also found disgusting was after it had been looked over by forensics, having to pay £250 to get it released from the compound, and couldn’t claim on the insurance so that was another expense.

“The police forensics did find fingerprints but they do not match any on the database.

“We are devastated that our beloved van which I have worked hard for was taken and trashed, but I know how lucky I am to actually get her back.

“I hope that highlighting this will lead to the arrest of the scum-bags who are stealing peoples beloved classic vehicles.”

Speaking to the Leader earlier in the week, Wrexham town sergeant Vic Powell urged classic car owners in the area to be vigilant.

He said: “Sgt Powell said: “These vehicles are someone’s pride and joy and you wonder what goes through some people’s minds.

“I would advise people in the area who own classic cars to invest in anti-theft devices.

“These seem like random and opportunistic crimes because these older cars have no in-built defence and opportunist thieves might see them as easy to take.

“I urge classic car lovers or owners of those type of vehicles to take precautions and protect their vehicles overnight.”

If anyone has any information about this incident, they can contact police on 101. The crime reference is W110951.