A man has told of his sadness after vandals threw paint stripper over his car and daubed his neighbour's house with gloss paint.
Jamie Dickerson was about to pick up his wife from her night shift when he realised his Ford Fiesta had been vandalised.
The heartbreaking thing for Mr Dickerson, a self-employed cleaner from Hellesdon, was that it was the first car he had ever spent significant money on.
Mr Dickerson, 31, said: 'I'm quite stressed out about the whole situation. We bought the car just about a year ago.
'We're working hard to pay off some of the car and the rest with help from family.
'We bought it second hand with around 4,000 miles on the clock. That was our way of showing we were working hard to get nice things. We have always had old cars. I had an accident with the former car and it was written off.
'My wife had been promoted and we sat down and said why don't we just go all out and get something new.'
Mr Dickerson's insurance company have said the car is likely to be written off.
The 31-year old said his neighbour came to visit at around 10.30pm having just come back from work to find white paint on their house, asking if the family had seen anything.
Mr Dickerson said: 'I said I hadn't seen anything and went out and had a look then went to bed.
'The next morning I got up to pick my wife up and there was green paint stripper stuff all over the car.
'It's not very nice really, we don't get much of the like of this down here.'
Mr Dickerson still had to pick up his wife from work in the damaged car, and called the police, who had been called out to the neighbour's house the night before.
Police found the materials of the crime in a nearby garden, including a tin of paint stripper and a drinks bottle that had been filled with the substance.
Mr Dickerson said: 'We think the people turned around from the house and thought the neighbour's car was my car.
'Our parking space is close to their door and they park at the side.'
'I'm still going to have to drive it while this is sorted. It's embarrassing really.'
Police are investigating the incident. Witnesses should call police on 101.
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