BAKERS saw their extractor fan turn into a ‘weapon’ after they were targeted by vandals.

Father and son bakers Alec and Liam Fleck at Darwen’s Bread Roll Bakery said they were astonished when damage to the fan turned it into a danger.

When staff switched on the fan as usual at the start of the day, blades were thrown out of the mechansim at high speed.

Investigating what had happened, the pair discovered stones had been thrown from outside into the device, which looks out on to the rear yard.

The bakers said gangs of young people congregating at the back of their premises in Railway Road were affecting their business.

Over the past year, the bakery has also had issues with delivery vans having their windows smashed when left outside.

Now the Flecks have passed CCTV images over to police in the hope that they can catch those responsible for the hundreds of pounds worth of damage to the fan. Liam said: “We know kids hang around in the early evening quite frequently and we have had issues when deliveries have happened late in the day.

“The vans have had their windows smashed and been broken into quite a few times over the past year.

“We had no warning that there was anything wrong with the fan, so it was quite a shock. One of the members of staff had just turned it on and luckily, had moved away from it.

“If there had been anyone near it, one of the blades would have gone flying and it would definitely have hurt them.

“We’ve handed over the CCTV and hope the police can catch who is responsible.”