DRUNKEN yobs who hurl bricks at a car dealership night after night are threatening to drive the lucrative business out of town.

During the latest attack at Lookers, on Knowsley Road, two cars were severely damaged when a gang of youths bombarded the garage with missiles from their perch on a disused railway line.

Manager Paul Byron (41) estimates that vandals have now caused £20,000 worth of damage to his business in the last 15 months and says this incident has brought him to the end of his tether.

He fumed: "I'm sick of having to worry about what state our cars will be in when I come to work every morning. We're supposed to be moving to new £1.5million premises in St Helens soon but if this vandalism carries on we might as well take our business elsewhere."

As reported in The Star last summer, gangs of youths also use the railway line at the back of the garage as a drinking den. CCTV security cameras installed at the garage only cover inside the grounds and despite the presence of a 15-foot high fence the vandals don't need to break in to cause significant damage.

Mr Byron added: "I'm frustrated because I don't think anything has been done to deter the vandals. The area either needs to be bulldozed, or at least levelled out so it's not so easy to throw missiles over our fence. It's not just bricks they throw either - we've had firebombs and syringes too!"