VANDALS who broke into a North-East woman's car recorded the sounds of them smashing the glass and tearing up the upholstery - then left it for the devastated owner.

Margaret Thompson found the recording in the back of her wrecked VW Polo.

On it one of the thieves giggles as he says: "We're just checking out your car."

Mrs Thompson says local yobs have subjected her to four years of torment. She blames the harassment for the break-up of her marriage, the loss of several jobs, and the fact she has sent her children away to live with relatives.

She was so sick of the persecution that she took her vandalised Rover Metro to a car park and handed out leaflets to shoppers pleading for help. "The response has been incredible," said the former nurse, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

"One or two people looked at me a bit oddly - after all I was stood next to a wrecked car covered in paint - but once they read it they knew where I was coming from."

Mrs Thompson said trouble began when she complained about youngsters tearing around Wynyard, the street in Chester West where they live, on high-powered motorbikes.

That prompted a reign of terror in which troublemakers threw paint, eggs, bottles and bricks at the family's terraced house and regularly verbally abused and spat at their children.

The police have successfully pursued an harassment case through the courts, but admit they need independent evidence if they are to make more arrests.

Sergeant Alan Foster, who has detailed knowledge of the Thompsons' case, said: "We know she has had these problems, which are on-going, and have a lot of sympathy for her.

"Last year we got enough evidence to prosecute a local resident under the Harassment Act, which resulted in a 12-month injunction which expired in October last year. We rigorously investigate every complaint she makes."

Mrs Thompson has recorded the attacks in a diary that reads like a dossier of despair.

She said: "I've been told that by recording the attacks we were making ourselves a target.

"But at the same time we were always told we needed to collate the evidence. We could never win."

Mrs Thompson's case has been taken up by the Victims of Crime Trust. Director Norman Brennan, a former policeman with 24 years' service, said: "This just goes to show the appalling state of our criminal justice system.

"We have lost what we once had, which is moral fibre, community spirit and respect for law and order. This case just typifies a family brave enough to stand up to those who think they are untouchable and above the law."