The owner of a Perth body shop has blamed nearby fast food restaurants after a gang of youths caused £3,000 worth of damage to his business.
Vandals smashed the wing mirrors off of six cars that were parked outside the Elder and Paton body shop on Arran Road last Saturday night.
Police are now hunting a group of teenagers who were spotted in the area near the time of the vandalism which occurred at 10.30pm
Paul Paton, owner of Elder and Paton, believes vandalism in the area has gotten worse since the opening of the 24-hour McDonald’s on Dunkeld Road and Starbucks at The Triangle.
Mr Paton said: “We seem to be getting a lot more problems with this because the McDonald’s and Starbucks are open 24-hours.
“The kids seem to walk up our road between the two.
“What we seem to see on the CCTV is that at night, after the nightclubs empty, they go to these places.
“But last Saturday was the worst we’ve seen.”
On top of the six vehicles damaged at his business, Mr Paton also claims more cars were vandalised in the North Muirton estate later that night.
The vandals caused £3,000 worth of damage to the Elder and Paton courtesy cars which also affected the running of the business.
Mr Paton said: “All these courtesy cars have to be available because we are so busy.
“When we came in on the Monday we had to move a lot of things around with customers.
“It causes a lot of disruption.”
Police say they are looking to trace a teenage boy aged about 14, who was seen in the area with three other teenage boys.
The teenager was wearing a black hooded top, black tracksuit trousers and white trainers and was carrying a black rucksack.
In 2017 the McDonald’s on Dunkeld Road imposed a temporary ban on under-18s after 7pm in order to combat antisocial behaviour.
Staff at the fast food chain had reported problems with youngsters vandalising the toilets and drinking outside.
At the time the company said they had taken the measures as a “last resort”.
Nobody from McDonald’s or Starbucks responded to a request for comment.
