A Devonshire business has lost thousands of dollars after being repeatedly targeted by thugs. Bermuda Water Works managing director Alan Rance said an arson attack - in which $10,000 worth of water supply equipment was destroyed - and an attack on a water truck, had caused him stress and extra operating costs not covered by insurance. Both incidents took place last week and fire officials have since confirmed that the blaze was caused by arsonists.

Mr. Rance also said that office windows of the Parsons Road business have been smashed and bricks have tossed through the windows of supply trucks in the past few months.

Mr. Rance said he was aware of other businesses in Devonshire which had had problems with vandalism.

“I think we might be an easy target because we have a fairly large building and have a lot of difficulty regarding the nature of our layout to keep everything secure,” he said.

“But this is a new phenomenon for us - this company has been located here since 1932 and it's only in the last year to 18 months that we've had to start coping with this.”

A security fence has been put up around the property and extra security guards have been hired, but Mr. Rance is anxious about the safety of the building and the capability of the company to supply water during the busy summer season. “It's of great concern to us,” he said. “When I go home at night I'm not sure if I'm going to get a call that something's happened here.

“Our message to them is that we don't understand why they're doing this and we wish they would stop; there's simply nothing to be gained by doing this.”