CULPRITS who smashed the window of a car belonging to a charity and throwing rubbish across the car park has pushed a 65-year-old man to the edge.

Bill Joss has lived in Toothill for three years and has noticed a rise in criminal activity in the neighbourhood which has forced him to make plans to relocate.

On his way to Tesco in the Toothill Village Centre he saw the AgeUK Wiltshire car parked close by and that someone had smashed its window leaving glass scattered on the floor.

But this is just one of the many incidents that has occurred over the years, including people carrying weapons, fights, drug activity, and vandalism.

Bill told the Adver: "I went to the shop and there was rubbish strewn all over the car park and the car had been smashed. I couldn't believe someone would do something like that.

"I think we need more police on the streets and this area has a lot of undesirables. It's a hotbed for drugs, and people carrying weapons. I won't even go to the shop at night because of it, it shouldn't like this, it's ridiculous. It's sad to see.

"People just don't have any respect for the communities, we need to work on that and fix it. It's terrible that someone would damage the car that belongs to a charity that helps this community, it's unbelievable."

The charity is having to pay hundreds of pounds to cover the cost of the car to be repaired. An AgeUK Wiltshire spokesman said: "At about 1am on June 1st, a young male was recorded on CCTV deliberately vandalising an AgeUK Wiltshire branded car parked outside Toothill Community Centre which is used as part of our Meals+ service which provides hot lunchtime meals delivered to the individual homes of older people living throughout Swindon and Wiltshire on every day of the week.

"The car had a window smashed, one wing mirror broken off completely and two light clusters cracked at an estimated cost of over £500. The AgeUK Wiltshire Meals+ service is paid for by the clients we provide this essential service to and also from other sources of income to our Charity. Whilst some of the cost of this vandalism will be covered by insurance, this mindless act will take money and resources away from the overall services AgeUK Wiltshire provides to older vulnerable adults living in our community."

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: "We received a report of an incident of criminal damage to a car in Toothill Village Centre on Tuesday morning.

"It is understood that the incident occurred at approximately 1am with a Skoda Fabia having a window smashed.

"We are working hard to address any community concerns in Toothill and the wider West Swindon area that are reported to us.

"We always encourage residents who have any information relating to criminal activity to contact us on 101 or report online to help us develop that intelligence picture. Your information could prove to be key to ongoing investigations.

"We continue to work with the parish council and our other partner agencies to provide further community reassurance and solutions to the concerns."