A SPATE of vandalism at a Dorchester garage used as a base for a taxi firm could land owners with a repair bill for up to £1,000.

Damage was found at Poundbury Garage based on the Poundbury West Industrial Estate by the manager Ben Galloway who reported it to Dorset Police.

The garage is used as base for the taxi company Bob’s Cars.

Damage includes a fire which caused minor damage to one of the cars and the main door to the garage had a hole in the door after a suspected attempted break in.

No damage had been done to the taxi firm’s cars.

One of the cars the garage was restoring, a Ford Granada, had also been broken into and it was found a rough sleeper had been living inside.

The man was spoken to by police but no further action was taken.

Mr Galloway said: “Not only have we got to fix everything that is broken, but we have also got to clean it all up.”

The estimated repair bill could be £1,000, which comes on top of the thousands of pounds that will be needed to replace the catalytic converters stolen from some of the garage’s cars in an unconnected incident last month.

Catalytic converters were stolen from three of the vehicles owned by Bob’s Cars last month, as reported in the Echo.

The engine parts were stolen from three specially adapted minibuses, which are used to transport disabled children, being kept in storage at the garage.

Speaking of the recent damage, Mr Galloway added: “The damage could cost up to £1,000 to get it all fixed. It’s not much but if anyone has got a similar car parked up they need to know something like this could happen and to be aware of it.”

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “Dorset Police received a report of an unauthorised person at Bob’s Cars on the Poundbury West Industrial Estate on Monday, April 14 at 9.34pm.

“Officers attended the scene and the man was found at the location, but no further police action was taken against this man.”