Police today put a bounty on the heads of villains who wrecked six vehicles in an early-morning vandalism spree in Brighton and Hove.

An elderly couple saw their two cars and caravan destroyed by flames.

Inspector Steve Curry said: "I intend using every means at my disposal to hunt these people down and to bring them to justice. What they did was despicable."

Mr Curry said Sussex Police and Norwich Union had teamed up to offer £750 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Mr Curry said: "I want them, and others like them, to know we will not tolerate this kind of mindless vandalism.

"Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to give this money away."

Three vehicles were sent hurtling down steep hills during the spree. They smashed into a road sign, tree and wall. One ended up dangling over an embankment, yards from a railway line.

The worst attack happened in Colebrook Road, Withdean, where the caravan and two cars were destroyed. One car, a Vauxhall Astra, was three weeks old.

The owners, Hazel Lickfold, 75, and her husband Doug, 80, were woken by explosions at 6am.

Mrs Lickfold said: "We saw this bright light and looked outside. A big tree right next to our house had burst into flames."

In the same road, the window of a Citroen Xsara Picasso people carrier was smashed and the handbrake was let off. The vehicle rolled down the road and crashed into a signpost.

Another vehicle crashed into a tree close to the railway line in Withdean Road and another slammed into a wall in Woodside Avenue, near Preston Park station.