At approximately 3am one of the residents heard the disturbance and immediately rang the police. She then proceeded to give chase to the vandals who ran off into nearby bushland.

Unfortunately this has been a common occurrence for the residents, who have endured at least eight similar events over the past 12 months.

Helen and Dennis Lawson have had their car stolen and broken into twice in the eight months they have lived in the villas.

“It is really just beyond a joke now, something needs to be done. We’d like to see increased levels of security, including a lock-up garage. None of us here are wealthy people and we have our hands in our pockets all the time paying for the damage they cause,” Helen said.

Margaret and Neville Lord are in the same situation and had just had their car detailed on Monday, only to have it seriously damaged several hours later.

“I am a volunteer for Manning Valley Community Transport and I was supposed to transport a lady to Newcastle today, but now my car is out of action. This is the first time I have missed a job,” Neville said.

Val Ward has lived in her Bushland Place unit since 1993 and said although the area is a lovely and quiet place to live, it has always had issues with break-ins and they are becoming more frequent.

“We are all elderly people and we support each other as best we can, but it is terrible for us to feel unsafe in our own homes. When I moved here I had a car, but I had to get rid of it as it kept getting broken into and I couldn’t afford the insurance premiums,” Val said.

Police attending the scene said similar incidents had occurred at Jacaranda Place and St Clare’s High School overnight and forensics officers were examining each crime scene for fingerprints.