NIGHT-TIME raiders smashed 40 car windows at three Nissan dealerships causing tens of thousands of pounds of damage.

Police said a criminal damage spree happened overnight at the Chorley Group Nissan dealership on Ackhurst Road, Chorley which was reported to them at 8.30am today.

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It is believed an implement, possibly a crow bar, was used to smash 14 windows of Nissan Juke cars parked on the forecourt of the premises.

In the same time period there were also damage sprees at Chorley Group Nissan dealerships in Preston and Wigan where a further 26 vehicles had windows smashed or bodywork scratched.

The group also have a dealership in Burnley which was unaffected.

The motor dealer insisted ‘it’s business as usual’ despite the series of break-ins that resulted in more than 40 vehicles being damaged.

The break-ins came on the eve of one of the Chorley Group’s busiest days of the year and just 24 hours before a major used car sales event.

But managing director Pauline Turner is determined to battle on despite the 'sickening' attack.

She said: “The break in has come as a shock to everyone, but the team have really rallied around to minimise the impact.

"Today is our quarter end so it’s one of the busiest days in our calendar year.

"We’ve also got a major used cars sales event taking place this weekend so it’s fair to say the timing could have been better.

"But everyone here is determined to make sure that mindless thugs don't win the day so we are pulling out all of the stops to ensure the sales event goes ahead as planned this weekend.

"As far as we are concerned it’s business as usual at Chorley Group.”

Lancashire police said they were investigating the damage spree and would be reviewing CCTV footage in the surrounding area.

Anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the area is asked to contact police quoting reference 248 of March 31.