A YORK motorist whose car suffered hundreds of pounds worth of damage when vandals threw tiles from the roof of a city centre shop has thanked police and the fire service for preventing further damage.

But Joyce Anderson, of Allendale, Woodthorpe, York, said the experience turned an enjoyable night out in York into an expensive nightmare - and she said she was unable to afford to go out again in the near future.

Mrs Anderson, who works for Tesco, said her nightmare started when she tried to return to her car, which was parked in Coney Street, just after midnight after she had enjoyed a night out with friends.

The police had cordoned off the street and firefighters were waiting nearby.

Then she realised that three men were throwing roof slates and bricks from the rooftop - many of them landing on her vehicle.

Mrs Anderson said: "There was three of them, they were throwing bricks and they smashed up my car.

"The front windscreen got smashed and the body work was damaged. It was just my car, no others were damaged.

"What right have these people to cause so much stress, expense and inconvenience to so many people?

"I am so grateful to all the services involved, but sorry the culprits got away."

Mrs Anderson had to pay £150 excess to repair damage to her car windscreen and bodywork.

A York police spokeswoman said: "We had a call to three males on the roof in the HMV area of Coney Street.

"There was debris and roof slates on the road. A vehicle in the street had its windscreen smashed by falling debris.

"It looks like entry was gained via the Cornish pasty shop and they were spotted on the roof by a security guard at another shop."

Firefighters were called to enable the police to gain access to the roof and thermal imaging equipment was used to try to trace the culprits.

The police spokeswoman confirmed that nobody had been arrested in connection with the incident.

Updated: 08:37 Monday, June 09, 2003