POLICE fear motorists’ lives are being put at risk by a gang who have been cutting the brake pipes of cars in a South Lakeland market town.

Drivers have been warned to check their vehicles thoroughly before taking to the road from Kirkby Lonsdale after a spate of malicious life-threatening incidents over the past three weekends.

Brake pipes have been severed, tyres slashed and fuel pipes tampered with on cars parked overnight in the Horsemarket, Back Lane and Lunefield Gardens areas of the town.

Some drivers have even taken to the road without realising their lives were at risk, including Charlotte Preston, who managed to bring her Ford Fiesta to a halt using her gears and hand-brake while travelling down a steep incline on Mitchelgate.

“My foot just went to the floor,” said Miss Preston, who was going to the Spar shop to get some cigarettes. “If I had gone the other way towards the A65 junction, I could have gone flying out of the end of there and you never know what would have happened. It could have been murder quite easily.” Police have also warned of the potentially serious consequences of an accident caused by the vandalism and that concern was evident at the weekend when uniformed and plain clothed officers took to the streets in a bid to catch the culprits in the act.

“Giving somebody’s car a scratch or ripping off a wing mirror is totally different to setting your stall out to find and cut a brake pipe and the consequences can be much more serious,” said Kendal police’s crime prevention officer Terry Belshaw. “The potential for catastrophe with your brake pipe cut is very high indeed and we would urge people to check their brakes before setting off on a journey.” The Westmorland Gazette reported last week that recovery vans had to be called out to the square to carry out emergency repairs on five cars belonging to residents and visitors. A Ford Fiesta parked in Ruskin Drive had its fuel pipe cut and damage was also caused to the brake cable of the vehicle. It is estimated that around 14 vehicles have been targeted but not all incidents have been reported to the police.

Over the weekend the brake pipe was cut on vehicles parked on Main Street and in the King’s Arms Yard. A Jaguar parked in the Horsemarket had its tyres slashed and the rear windscreen of a vehicle in Back Lane was smashed. On Monday night the tyres of four Post Office vehicles parked in the Market Square area of the town were deflated.

Inspector Richard Vernon said: “I have had some concerns that this could be somebody who has either recently come into the area or is potentially somebody who has some sort of dispute or grievance and may be taking this action with some feeling of retribution.

“People with information or who see anything suspicious or have knowledge of any person who has a grievance should contact the local police straight away. We had extra staff in the town on Saturday night and in the early hours of Sunday morning but they did not see anything suspicious. We shall continue to put officers into the town and we will be using a range of technical equipment in a bid to trace the person or persons responsible.”