Black Country day centre's minibuses tyres slashed twice in 48 hours

Staff at Select Lifestyle's Rowley Regis day centre were shocked to find six minibuses put out of action on Wednesday morning.

Users of the centre in Rowley Regis, which includes adults with severe learning difficulties, were unable to attend sparking upset and forcing families to change their plans at the last minute.

After spending £200 per tyre on the six vehicles and moving them to an alternative site, the vandals struck again attacking two more minibuses on Thursday night.

Select Lifestyle director Councillor Les Trumpeter was left bereft when he realised they minibuses had been attacked again.

The Sandwell Council Charlemont and Grove Vale Councillor said: "The chaos caused by putting our minibuses out of action is hard to explain. Our day centre should have been full but instead was empty with a lot of really unhappy people stuck at home.

"It is not just our users who rely on the centre, their families also can go to work or go out and about knowing their loved ones are at the centre. Some of our users have severe autism and any change of routine can be very disrupting."

Select Lifestyle's Thrones Road centre opened last year and has sensory rooms, music rooms, arts and crafts rooms as well as classrooms that can provide vocational courses.

Select Lifestyles support those with a variety of conditions, including those with an Acquired Brain Injury, those with challenging behaviours and those on the autism spectrum.

Councillor Trumpeter is shocked the minibuses were targeted in such a malicious manner.

He said: "We have got CCTV footage of a man brazenly stabbing the tyres, if anyone recognises him please can you tell the police."