VANDALS and car thieves plagued a Bolton estate -- smashing up to a dozen vehicles.

Residents in Great Lever woke to find their cars stolen, trashed and dumped on waste land.

One recovery firm was so inundated with calls from homeowners during the weekend that it was forced to draft in extra tow-trucks from other towns.

Most of the vehicles involved have been written-off by mechanics.

One of the victims was Shaun Cooper, of Milford Road, who had his wife's H-reg Vauxhall Cavalier stolen on Friday night.

It was driven to land off Freshfield Grove and abandoned. The vehicle's steering column had been ripped out, the ignition was smashed and the exhaust -- which had recently been replaced -- was pulled off.

He took the car to Gresty's accident repair centre, on Higher Bridge Street, and was told it would be written off.

Mr Cooper said: "When I found the car it was with a few others, one which was burnt out.

"There are kids who seem to be having some sort of competition around here, egging each other to steal bigger and better cars.

"Something needs to be done. We've considered leaving but the house prices here are plummeting."

HM Recovery, of Horwich Business Park, on Chorley New Road, was called to deal with six damaged vehicles in the area.

Bosses had to pool the firm's resources to ensure it had enough capacity to deal with the problem.

Mechanic Andy Ainscough said: "Saturday mornings are usually very quiet but this time we were incredibly busy.

"We pick up a lot of cars from Great Lever. It seems a popular place to steal them."

Mr Cooper and his wife Elizabeth have spent thousands of pounds on repairing and replacing vehicles.

Two weeks ago a vandal smashed the off-side rear window of the couple's N-reg Citroen Xantia, causing £280-worth of damage.

The couple, who have two children, aged nine and 16, said they had been targeted by louts ever since they moved into their large town house in 1994.

Mr Cooper, a 39-year-old health and safety consultant, said he frequently found windows smashed, screw-drivers stuck in tyres and items snatched from inside the vehicles.

He added: "You wouldn't think it was like this. The area looks very nice with its large town houses but at night it becomes a haven for hooligans.

"You see kids walking around with knives and hurling abuse. It's got to stop."

Chief Inspector Alan Greene, of Bolton Central, said: "We have been aware of an upturn in incidents in Great Lever over the last month.

"It is an area we have been focusing on in recent weeks, with a number of individuals arrested."