SEVENTEEN vehicles had their rear windscreens shattered when a lone raider carried out a raid on a row of parked cars.

The vehicles, many high end saloons, were parked overnight outside neat terraced houses at Huddersfield Road, Scouthead.

The raider, believed to be a man in his 20s, was disturbed by residents in the early hours of Monday morning.

Security guard Jonathon (correct) Buckley, said: “I heard a commotion on the road and saw a man wielding a large traffic cone.

“I was upstairs at at the time and I shouted to him to stop but he smashed the rear windscreen of my car.

“By the time I got downstairs, he had sprinted away from the scene.I was joined by a neighbour and we both gave chase. But he’d vanished.”

Mr Buckley, 53, added: “Everyone got together to commiserate and see how we could help each other — it’s what people do in Saddleworth.”

Pearl Millett another victim, owner of a large Vauxhall saloon, added: “It has been a terrible shock to everyone.”

Damage to the vehicles is estimated at many thousands of pounds.