Dog walker has van tyre slashed 20 times

Jessica O’Dell, 21, runs a dog walking service and parked by the entrance to Tring Park on Hastoe Hill when she walked five pooches last Wednesday, February 4.

While she was gone, someone stabbed the van’s front driver’s side tyre 20 times and broke the barrel lock on her driver’s side door.

But it wasn’t until she dropped off two dogs in Albert Street and drove to her next customer in Hang Hill near Tring that she realised something was wrong.

Jessica, of Highfield Road, Tring, said: “My van sounded like it was going to blow up, the temperature gauge was in the red zone and I felt like I was driving over horrific ice.”

Luckily a concerned customer was able to fit the van’s spare tyre, but the incident has still left Jessica shaken.

She said: “To stab my tyre 20 times is a pretty vile statement. I work hard and I recently bought the van to set up my own business – and this is what happens.”

Jessica had to get the tyre replaced at the cost of £80, plus a new barrel lock for an extra £40, but her van is not the first to be targeted. On the same day, a white Peugeot hatchback was also parked on Hastoe Hill when both passenger side tyres were damaged.

On January 4, a Land Rover Defender 100 had all four tyres slashed as it was parked in a layby in Church Lane, Hastoe between 12.15pm and 1.15pm.

A Herts police spokesman said: “The public are often our eyes and ears. We would ask them to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to us straight away on 101.”