TWO taxi drivers face weeks off work after their cabs were attacked with paint stripper.

Vic Bown, of Brisbane Road, Weymouth, and his next door neighbour Andy Cox found their vehicles had been damaged overnight.

The eight-seater private hire cab of Mr Cox and Mr Bown's four-seater car had been sprayed with chemicals - probably paint stripper - causing thousands of pounds-worth of damage.

As both men are self-employed and own the vehicles they will be unable to work while the taxis are repaired.

Mr Bown, 53, said: "It will need a complete re-spray and so will Andy's.

Nightmare "The whole thing is a nightmare because I have a family to support and need to get my car back on the road.

"Obviously I can't use the car for work now and the last time it happened I had to have four weeks off."

It is the second time in four months that Vic's black Ford Mondeo has been attacked.

After the last attack in March he bought a CCTV camera and says the culprit has been caught in action.

He says: "The camera shows someone spraying both cars and running away.

"I was up at 2.15am and the car was fine, so it happened some time after that.

"I have absolutely no idea who the person is or why he targeted us."

The CCTV images have now been passed on to the police.

Mr Cox, 60, said: "I am extremely angry and absolutely gutted by this.

"The CCTV shows someone checking the number plates and spraying something all over Vic's car then going out of shot where he must have done mine.

"The parking on the street is very tight and no other vehicles were attacked, which makes me think we were deliberately targeted.

"I've only got third party insurance so I will have to pay for it myself. The last time Vic's was done it cost £3,500 and now he has to put another insurance claim in."

Mr Cox said he was sorry customers would be let down as a result of the incident.

"There aren't that many eight-seaters in Weymouth and I have regular customers who will have to take two cabs for a few weeks.

"As well as the personal problems this causes me I am also concerned about the effect on customers."

The owner of Weyline Taxis, Stewart Wright, said: "We have to take two cars off the road for at least 10 days and that's going to affect our ability to serve customers. Clearly these cars have been targeted for whatever reason and hopefully police will be able to find who did it."