CRIME victim Bill Macpherson is so fed up of his car being vandalised he is stumping up a £500 reward to catch the culprits.

Bill awoke to discover his dark blue Peugeot 306 daubed with white paint - it was the third time his R-registered vehicle had been subjected to such vandalism in two years.

After painstakingly washing away the mess, Bill decided to put up £500 reward for information leading to a conviction.

The 49-year-old York company director believes his car has been specifically targeted by the same person who twice threw paint over his car two years ago.

"No more than ten yards away were another four vehicles," he said. "If he was an opportunist, he would have done them all in one go. But my car was singled out."

Bill, who lives on North Moor Road, Huntington, said that on each occasion his Peugeot had been parked on nearby White Horse Close, a quiet cul-de-sac off the main road.

"It was done sometime between 10pm last Thursday and 2am on Friday. Whoever it is, drives up in a car, pours paint over my car and drives away. It is as brazen as that. Somebody will know who did it"

"I spent seven-and-a-half hours washing it off the car. The first time it happened I used a power washer, but it just spread the paint. This time I did it carefully, but there are still areas you can't get at. The paint is always going to be there and the car will be devalued."

"If there are other people out there who have had their car done as well, they might add to the reward.

"We need to prove who did it. Somebody needs to come forward and point the finger and be prepared to go to court to say who it was.

As well as reporting the crime to York Police, Bill also contacted City of York Council about the mess.

He said: "The council came out in the afternoon to clean the lay-by."

A York Police spokesman confirmed that Bill Macpherson had reported the Peugeot paint incident to the police, and said they had no objection to a cash reward for information leading to a conviction.

Anyone with information should phone York Police on 0845 6060247 or can phone Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

Updated: 10:24 Wednesday, March 23, 2005