Thugs wielding an air gun have shot the windows of a coach belonging to a Black Country marching band, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Members of the Tividale Tigers spent months fundraising and applying for grants to buy the 53-seater coach.

But they have been left devastated after vandals went on a wrecking spree, shooting all the windows they could reach. The only ones spared were on the right hand side where it had been parked beside trees. Band trainer Stacey O’Neill said: “I don’t know why anyone would have done it, that’s the worst thing. I just feel really angry.”

The coach is used to pick up all 30 members of the band to take them to their twice-weekly rehearsals at Tividale Community Centre.

Miss O’Neill, aged 21, from the Brickhouse Estate in Rowley Regis, said they would now have to cancel rehearsals until the coach is repaired. They vehicle cost the band £4,500 when they bought it two years ago.