VANDALS left a trail of destruction in a Southampton street after a wrecking spree.

The hooligans rampaged along Porchester Road, in Woolston, destroying windscreens and lights on vehicles.

The havoc was wreaked on cars parked on the side of the road with odd-numbered addresses.

One resident who heard a noise at midnight chased a group of youths and alerted police but when officers arrived they could find no trace of the wreckers.

Stunned residents woke to find hundreds of pounds worth of damage to their vehicles.

Sue Hall, an administration officer, of Porchester Road branded the vandals as "mindless thugs."

She woke on Friday morning to find the rear window of her Ford Fiesta smashed. She said: "I did not hear anything. I got up this morning to go to a hospital appointment.

"I went to get into the car and found the rear window had been smashed."

Part-time tutor Terry Gates, 64, who also lives in the road, had the rear quarter light of his Volkswagen camper van smashed, causing £50-worth of damage.

He said: "I don't see the point of why they do it. People who smash up bus shelters and phone boxes and do this sort of thing are not there to see the despair of people who have been affected."

Beat officers have delivered leaflets to residents along the road in a bid to try and track down the hooligans.

A spokeswoman from Southampton police crime desk said: "This is just mindless vandalism. We are looking for help from the local community to try and catch the culprits."

Anyone who saw the group of youths or has other information about the attacks which took place early on Friday should call PC Dumbleton or PC Alan Swinton at Bitterne police station on 0845 045 45 45 or ring crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.