Vandals have caused an estimated £40,000 of damage in an overnight attack on a Bradford plant hire company.

A total of 216 tyres were slashed on vehicles parked in Thomas Crompton’s yard, off Bowling Back Lane, Bradford.

Now Mr Crompton, owner of the business which bears his name, has offered a reward of £5,000 for information leading to the conviction of the culprits in what he believes was a deliberate attempt to put his company out of business.

He said tyres on about 30 vehicles, including wagons, sweepers and tippers, had been slashed as two hooded youths went on a spree stabbing every tyre they could find in an hour around midnight. The whole incident had been captured on security cameras at the firm’s premises.

Mr Crompton said: “When we came back to work on Sunday morning, luckily enough I had a skeleton staff in, they noticed that every single vehicle in our yard had had their tyres stabbed, totalling 216 tyres.

“We immediately called our tyre firms in and they have been working round the clock to get the wagons ready for our customers.

“Sadly, we’ve had to let some customers down but we’ve tried to keep a skeleton staff going. Our customers are quite sympathetic and so are other wagon companies in the area who have lent us wagons to try to help out.

“We’ve got it on CCTV. The police want to talk to two people wearing hoodies who came in at 11.57pm from the Bowling Back Lane area and left at about 1am. They had been stabbing every tyre.

“I can only think that it’s a deliberate attempt to put us out of business but it won’t work. It’s shaken us up and it’s scared the drivers who rely on this business for their livelihood but such a cowardly act won’t put us out of business.

“I’ve got the support of all the hauliers in West Yorkshire and we’re all anxious to find out who has done this and get them through the courts. That’s why I’ll pay £5,000 cash reward for information to bring them to justice.”

Security has been stepped up at the site and police have mounted extra patrols in the area.

Mr Crompton praised the efforts of staff at the Bradford-based Crest Tyre company, who he said had worked “non-stop” to get his vehicles back on the road.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said inquiries were ongoing and added that officers were following up a number of leads.

Anyone with information should call West Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060606 or the Thomas Crompton company on (01274) 726777.