VANDALS left a trail of wanton destruction in Barrhead in the early hours of Friday morning.

In what one resident described as an ‘act of rebellion’, the vandals wrecked vital communications cables in Auchenback and caused extensive damage to the new CCTV equipment.

They forced open a manhole cover and the vandals set the wires, mainly belonging to NTL on fire.

Some locals believe the culprits were trying to attack the CCTV system which is currently being installed in the scheme.

A worker leaving for an early shift around 5am spotted the blaze and called the emergency services, who arrived quickly on the scene.

But the damage had already been done – the blaze resulted in a massive power cut, leaving almost 50 local families wired up to the communications firm, without power until 8pm that night.

And in a parting shot, the culprits slashed countless tyres on cars parked in Fenwick Drive, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

NTL sent a taskforce of workmen to repair the underground damage — between 20 and 30 men worked through the day.

Most televisions were back working by 4.30pm, while all the telephones were back in order around 8pm.

Bosses at NTL say it is too early to say how much the final repair bill will cost.

A spokesman for NTL added: “We were the victims of an act of vandalism which we had no control over.

“It involved a considerable amount of work and we had technicians out all day trying to repair the faults.

“We are extremely grateful for our customer’s patience while we got the service back to normal.” Some locals are convinced that the vandals were trying to target the poles and wiring recently installed in parts of Auchenback for the spy camera system.

Auchenback Active, the regeneration initiative, has paid for the cameras in a bid to beat crime and the drugs menace in the scheme.

Only last week workmen were seen installing the poles for the eyes in the sky before the switch on in early October.

Furious tenants and residents hit out at the hooligans. One woman from Fenwick Drive said: “It’s an absolute disgrace. “Itwas nothing more than a sheer act of rebellion before the CCTV cameras are up and running.

Auchenback councillor Eddie Phillips, said: “I am saddened, but not at all surprised by this incident.

“Some people here will do anything to prevent their criminal acts being caught on film. I know that workers installing these cameras have been subject to verbal abuse, so this is the natural outcome.

Barrhead police told the News that they were following a positive line of enquiry regarding Friday’s trail of destruction