A defiant car sales boss is offering a £1,000 reward after a vandal caused tens of thousands of pounds damage to vehicles in deliberate attacks.

In the latest incident, £30,000 damage was caused after 35 cars on the forecourt had paint stripper poured over them.

Only days earlier, the same man is thought to have been responsible for using a screwdriver to scratch the paintwork of 30 vehicles, causing £15,000 damage.

The attacks happened at LCC Car Sales in Otley Road, Shipley, and the owner of the second hand car dealers, James Brett, said he believed someone was trying to drive them out of business.

But Mr Brett declared yesterday: “Our message is we will not be beaten. We will not be driven out and our business will continue.”

The family-run sales company has operated from the site for 13 years and Mr Brett believes a rival car dealer may want to take over there.

He said: “We don’t think it is kids messing about, or a disgruntled customer, because of the nature and extent of the damage. We have got a good reputation and loyal customers who have been with us for 13 years.”

The first attack happened at around 11.15pm on July 28. Most of the cars had been returned to the yard after repairs when the paint stripper attack was carried out, just before midnight on Tuesday.

The suspect was captured on the firm’s CCTV, and appears to be the same man. Mr Brett has released images of the man in the hope of tracing him, and says he will pay a £1,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the wrecker.

Mr Brett added: “This is like something from gangland London, but it won’t succeed. We worked hard to build up the business and survived the economic recession. Trade has picked up and we are determined to carry on.

“The CCTV images are good, and even though the suspect is at pains to keep his back to the camera, we think someone will recognise him, and someone must know who is behind this.

“The business is on hold because we can’t sell the cars until they are repaired, and we still have our staff to pay. But they will not beat us.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “These appear to be targeted attacks and we are treating them extremely seriously.

“This type of criminal behaviour clearly presents a financial impact, not to mention a distruption to business.

“It will not be tolerated within our communties and we are focusing patrols in this area.

“CCTV has been viewed and items recovered for forensic examination.

“It is possible that someone locally will know about these offences or have seen those responsible in the area during the times they occurred.

“Any witnesses or anyone with information should contact the non emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.”