THE boss of a car yard is mystified why criminals punctured every tyre on every vehicle for the third time in six months.

Rick Howes, the owner of Solo Italia in Begbroke, discovered on Wednesday his cars had been vandalised overnight for a third time.

Last night Mr Howes said he had no idea why he was being targeted but fears the attacks may ultimately spell the end for his business.

He said: “The first time this happened was in November. They did it one Wednesday night, so we discovered all the flat tyres the next morning.

“We replaced a lot of them, but then they came back the following Tuesday and punctured all the tyres we had replaced.”

The damage from the first two attacks cost Mr Howes £10,510 to fix. He feared the latest bill would be near £10,000 as well.

The garage also had gearboxes, worth hundreds of pounds, stolen about a month ago.

He said: “It must have taken them quite a while to do. To puncture all the tyres is not a five-minute job. It’s definitely more than one person.”

Mr Howes said Tuesday night’s attack was the latest problem for the recession-hit business, which had to lay off a member of staff last year.

He said: “We run quite a tight, honest business but then you get a hit like this. Business has been so slow anyway. I haven’t got the money to pay for this.”

The company has to move out of its premises in Woodstock Road East on August 31 when its lease runs out.

But Mr Howes said he wasn’t sure what the future held, saying the firm may not now have the money to find a new home.

He said: “We haven’t got the money to move anywhere else and this is making that much worse.

“I don’t know what we’ll do.”

He added: “I have no idea who has done this. We do not know if it is the same group. It could be.

“It’s not like in the motor trade you try to annoy people, because you just can’t do that.”

Thames Valley Police is investigating the incidents.

Spokesman Chris Kearney said: “The matter is being treated very seriously and we would urge anyone who is doing this to reconsider what they are doing, as it has had considerable impact on the owner and will cost him a lot of money.”

Anyone with information can call police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.