YOUNG thugs hurled a foot-long stone through the window of a York house in the latest chapter of a long-running campaign of vandalism.

Philip Nicholson, 43, said he was in an upstairs bedroom at the moment the huge slab, ripped from his garden wall, was thrown through the window of his front room on Friday night.

Now he has boarded up windows at his home in Alcuin Avenue, Tang Hall, to stop youths making his life hell.

Only last month, Mr Nicholson told how teenagers were subjecting him to repeated attacks. He estimates that his windows have been smashed more than 30 times in the last three months.

He said: "I just heard a tremendous bang. I could hear all the glass coming into the room. It was just unbelievable. Stones and bricks have been thrown through my window before but nothing on that size.

"This has been going on for a couple of years and I am disgusted. I am appalled that we can be living in a York that allows this type of culture and behaviour to go and doesn't do anything about it."

Mr Nicholson has been a repeated target. On one occasion, yobs torched his car on the driveway.

A police spokeswoman said the incident had been reported and said officers were investigating. Anyone with information is asked to phone York Police on 01904 631321.

Updated: 10:29 Monday, May 26, 2003