PEOPLE parking in a road in Taunton had their car tyres slashed overnight on Tuesday (February 9) - including a nurse who had just worked a 12.5 hour night shift.

Two of the incidents have been reported to Avon and Somerset Police, but neighbourhood officers believe more vehicles were damaged.

Chloe Sedgbeer, a nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital, had one of her tyres slashed.

She had just finished a night shift and walked back to her car, when she noticed she had a flat tyre.

"I walked out of work after my second 12 and a half hour night shift and walked towards my car, another nurse (parked closer to the hospital than me) had a flat tyre and we joked about how it’s just not what you need after a night shift," she said.

"I then looked on to my car only to find that my front tyre was also flat. I looked around and saw there were a few other cars in the same condition. Upon closer inspection it looked like it had been punctured in the side with something sharp.

"A lovely gentleman saw the commotion of tyre changes on my car and came out of his house to check we were ok and if we wanted a coffee as it was cold with sprinkles of snow on the ground.

"I called the police but unfortunately there isn’t any CCTV there so it’s hard to trace. I was lucky enough to have a spare tyre and only one of mine was punctured but other people had two punctured tyres on their cars so wouldn’t have had two spares."

Leigh Mills, who also works at the hospital, set up a JustGiving page to help the people who had their tyres slashed to pay for the damage.

"I saw the post go up on Facebook regarding nine members of staff having their tyres damaged, everyone knows the staff park there and it felt to be like a deliberate attack," she added.

"I couldn’t sit back and do nothing, these are my colleagues and in normal circumstances they work so hard but during these unprecedented times they are working even harder.

"No one deserves to work a 12/13 hour shift, to find their cars damaged and have to hang around in freezing conditions and find the money to fix their cars to enable them to go home and sleep.

"So I felt as a community we needed to support our heroes. I have found most of the nine affected and have liaised with them to reimburse the money they had to spend to fix their cars - we are a little short of target but we will get there.

"Two local business have also helped, one reimbursed one member of staff and one has offered to fix the tyres for free. Of course any funds left over will be donated to Love Musgrove."

Ms Sedgbeer said she wanted to thank those who have set up the page, and those who have donated.

"I just hope whoever has done it, or anyone else who knows anything, comes forward as we are all working so hard to look after people in such a difficult time, we all need to be there for one another as a community," she added.

"I would like to say a massive thank you to Leigh Mills for setting up the go fund me page as tyres are not cheap as we know. Also to the lovely generous garage who has agreed to help us out."

Avon and Somerset Police have said officers are investigating the damage and are making house-to-house enquiries.

"We are asking anyone with information, dashcam, CCTV or smart doorbell footage which could help to call 101 quoting reference 5221029647," said an Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson.

"We would also like to hear from anyone else whose car was damaged on this street last night. Again call 101 and quote reference 5221029647.

"If you know who was responsible, you can pass information on anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They never tell the police who you are, just what you know."

To donate to the JustGiving page vsiit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/leonie-mills-1