A MOTHER has expressed outrage after a car bought for her son was vandalised only three weeks after passing his driving test.

Carly Bird had been saving up to buy her 17-year-old son Giovanni Scarale a car since he was two-years-old.

Ms Bird, a delivery driver Tesco in Maldon, bought her son a Clio GT after he saved up half the cost. However, the car broke down on Saturday on the A414 near the store, and had to be towed into the car park and left there until Monday morning.

Carly and her son were horrified to discover that someone had smashed in the back window and kicked in both of the doors leaving huge dent marks and scratches.

Carly said: “It was just soul destroying to find it like that, I’ve been saving for Giovanni to get him his own car since he was two.

“He put in so much work with his part time job in Tesco to put up the other half, he’s literally just broken up from school and all he wanted was to be able to drive around and see his friends over the summer.

“We’re getting quotes of repairs over the next few days, but being a single parent with four children I can only afford so much.”

Carly, who lives in Staplers Heath, Great Totham, said the car park often has people congregating there after store hours, and believes something needs to be done regarding the safety and security of the area.

She said: “Since the store closed at midnight after ceasing to be 24 hours, you get so many people hanging around out there doing awful things.

“One night in the last few weeks, there was a moped being driven around dragging a cage with two people in it. Some of the things you see are unbelievable.

“But at the same time, there’s been a van parked there for months which has never been touched – you’d think a car with no valuables would be safe to leave for one night.

“Something needs to be done about it – maybe even a barrier or fencing to come down after hours.”

A spokesman for Tesco said: "We were sorry to hear about the damage to a car at our Maldon Extra store overnight last Sunday and we are assisting police with their enquiries."

Call 101 with information.