A ROMSEY woman has spoken of the shocking moment she discovered "12 cars" had their wing mirrors vandalised at the weekend.

Hattie Butler was walking home with a friend in The Abbey when she found both her parents' cars had been attacked by hooligans.

The 20-year-old said: "I was walking home about mid-morning on Saturday [December 12] when I saw my mum and dad's cars were damaged.

"I thought it was 12 cars that were vandalised and it was a bit shocking to see, because we have lived in the area for ten years now and we have never had anything like this.

"It was nasty and I think this happened the night before on Friday [December 11]."

Hattie, who is a student at The University of Exeter, Cornwall, added her mum was shocked and frustrated after learning her Ford Fiesta mirror had been ripped off.

Hattie said: "I really have no idea why anyone would do this; it seemed unprovoked, because there were so many cars that were damaged.

"We've ordered a new wing mirror for mum's car, which should take five days to arrive, and the car is still useable."

She added although her dad's BMW was damaged, they were able to slot the glass back into place.

Reacting to the news on Facebook, one woman commented: "All I keep reading this week is more crime, higher business insurance costs and antisocial behaviour locally; it's very sad.

"It seems we need more CCTV in Romsey as well as more patrols, but it all costs money and [it seems] we're heading into an austere 2021 thanks to coronavirus and Brexit."

Another woman wrote: "Disgusting behaviour. If they’re not robbing your house or trying to, they’re vandalising what people work hard to pay for.

"This year is continuing to be pants right up to the end."

A spokesperson from Hampshire police said: "We have had a report of around 12 vehicles by Romsey Abbey being damaged between around 6pm on 11th and 10am on the 12th.

"Around three owners have reported the incident and a Peugeot 208, a Vauxhall Astra and a Audi A1 are among the vehicles who mainly had wing mirrors damaged. "We'd encourage any other owner whose car was damaged around that time in the area to also contact us if they have already and report it.

"The incident numbers we have are: 44200479020, 44200479844, 44200479489."