Vandal crow targets drivers

A marauding crow has left motorists in Cirencester out of pocket after repeatedly ripping off the rubber from their windscreen wipers. Residents in Partridge Way told the Standard this week how they were forced to cover up their cars when the crow first struck last year. Crow casualty Wendy Barr said the bird had been wreaking havoc for nine months.

"I'm on my third set of blades now," she said. "The situation is very annoying and I have to constantly put plastic bags over the wiper blades because if you leave them uncovered, even for just half an hour, the crow will have them. All the cars on our side of the road have plastic bags, nets or some sort of material on them. The crow is very big and it's not cheap to keep replacing the blades."



Mrs Barr believes the bird may have a partner in crime as it is often seen with another crow. Victim Bill Crawford said that in the last week alone he had replaced his wiper blades three times.

He said: "Just before Christmas we were out driving and went to switch the wipers on and there was no rubber on them. We thought nothing of it but then it happened again. The crow is quite big and has a wing span of about 2ft." Victims are unsure what the crow does with its spoils but said it would sometimes peck the rubber out and leave it hanging from the wiper blade.