VANDALS caused thousands of pounds of damage after pouring a corrosive liquid over eight cars.

Paintwork was damaged after vandals poured the unknown substance over eight cars in Rochford over two nights.

Seven of the vehicles were covered in the substance overnight between Wednesday, December 18, and Thursday, December 19, with a further incident occurring the following night.

In Malting Villas Road a silver Jaguar X type had its roof and bonnet dented before the liquid was poured over eight panels – causing the paintwork to bubble.

In Middle Mead a silver Ford Mondeo had a liquid poured over the roof, boot and bonnet and further along the road a silver Kia Ceed had its bonnet damaged with the substance.

Two cars were also attacked in Greenways – a silver Ford Focus and a blue Suzuki Alto. They both had a liquid poured over the bonnet and bodywork.

In Stambridge Road a green Ford Fiesta and a grey Ford Focus were similarly damaged.

The earliest that any of the damage was discovered was 8.15am on the Wednesday.

A further car, a grey Honda Civic, had a substance thrown over it in King Henry Drive between 7pm on Wednesday, December 19, and 9.55am on Thursday, December 20, although in this case the owner was able to remove the substance without significant damage being caused.

The estimated damaged caused from all of the incidents is £3,600.

Police only released details of the attacks today.

Anyone with information should call PC Michaela Hammond at Rayleigh Police Station on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.