A SOUTHAMPTON MP is calling for police to be given more resources after vandals went on the rampage in eight streets in the city.

Royston Smith said he would be urging Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Michael Lane, to make sure Southampton was provided with the resources it needed to protect and their property.

It comes after cars in the Woolston and Peartree areas of the city were targeted on Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday.

Police have revealed the full extent of a wrecking spree in which vandals targeted at least 15 cars, either denting the vehicles or smashing their front and rear windscreens.

Many of the vehicles were parked in Defender Road but police have confirmed that cars in seven other streets were also damaged.

The hooligans struck in Bridge Road, Defender Road, Defender Walk, Keswick Road, Oswald Road, Tankerville Road, Victoria Road and Wharncliffe Road.

Vandals targeted the Woolston area at 3am on Sunday, smashing windscreens with an object thought to have been a hammer.

Residents woken by the noise rang the police but say they were told officers no longer turned out to incidents involving car crime.

Daily Echo:

Mr Smith, Tory MP for Southampton Itchen, said: “I hope police will treat these crimes with the seriousness they deserve.

"I understand the financial pressures facing the police and I’m again calling on the Police and Crime Commissioner to ensure Southampton gets the resources it needs to keep residents and their property safe.”

A police spokesman added: “We are aware of concerns that officers did not immediately deploy to these areas when the reports came in.

“All calls that come into our control room are risk assessed before a deployment decision is made. Factors include if a crime is on-going or whether there is an immediate threat to life.

“Risk assessments of the circumstances of these incidents were conducted at the time of the calls on the basis of the information provided to us.”

Lauren Edwards, of Defender Road, said she left her flat on Sunday morning to go to work and discovered her front and rear windscreens smashed.

She said: “There was glass all over the vehicle and I’ve also got a dent on the bodywork where they missed (the glass) the first time.”