Vandals hit helper's car

A vandal caused more than £900 damage by throwing paint stripper on a Cannock woman's car just hours after she had finished helping to get a new home ready for sick two-year-old Bethany Dawson.

See also: Bethany's new home done up in just a day

Anna Langston, aged 27, was among a group of neighbours who gave up a day to help prepare a house for Bethany, who has been in Birmingham Children's Hospital for almost eight months after a life-saving transplant.

Her father Tim Dawson had been forced to take months off work because of Bethany's illness and would have struggled to get the house, owned by Waterloo Housing, ready for their daughter who has special medical needs.

So Mrs Langston, her husband Clive, and other neighbours rallied round to help them, negotiating discounts from local companies and even paying for flooring themselves.

The mother-of-two returned to her home, near Whinyates Rise, shortly after 6pm on Wednesday to discover her 07-plate Vauxhall Vectra had been attacked with paint stripper which had burned through to metal on the roof, bonnet and passenger side panels.

Mrs Langston said: "Whoever was responsible would have had to come past my husband's car and onto our drive to do it. I was really upset and I just didn't believe what had happened." Anyone with information should contact Staffordshire Police on 0300 123 44 55 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.