A police helicopter was called into action after vandals hurled a concrete plant pot at a £10,000 car in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Roger Stearn, manager of the Orange Tree pub in Richmond, woke up to find his car had suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage.

He said: "Its hard to say whether it was drunks or just vandals, but it annoys me so much, especially when you fork out £300 a year for a parking permit.

"It's not the first time my car has been damaged.

"It can't have been people from local pubs because they had been closed for over three hours.

Pub staff heard Mr Stearn's car alarm going off at about 2am Margaret Clarke, landlady at the Sun Inn, said: "Our cars have been done a few times, but not as bad as Roger's.

"We were woken up by our dogs about 2am, but didnt realise the extent of the damage.

"They have used one of our plant pots and there was quite a bit of noise at about 3am in the alley next to our pub.

"Richmond on the weekend is very busy and you do get vandalism."

Mr Stearn's Hyundai Santa Fe will need extensive repair to the windscreen and bonet.

He added: "We haven't had any trouble at the pub, so I hope it's just random attacks of vandalism, but the car was keyed once as well.

"The police say car crime is going down in the area, but I don't think it is."