The boss of a Luxembourg-based haulage company has criticised yobs who chucked stones through the window of a parked lorry on an industrial estate.

René Ehrhardt says the driver of the EVA SPED S.A.R.L truck had parked up in the Ellingham Way industrial estate in Ashford after being delayed crossing the channel yesterday.

He said the vehicle would not normally need to park up in the area, but at 7pm the driver faced “raw and destructive violence” from a gang of four youths.

He said: “While he was sitting in his cab and writing his daily report, the youths started to throw stones against all the parked trucks, and a Romanian and Belgian truck were also damaged.

“In the past we have had trouble with thieves stealing fuel and cutting curtains to steal the load, but this was a new level of violence against our truck driver.

“How can this happen? I don’t have any answer, but I am sure someone should explain to the kids how important it is to respect other people’s property. There are no excuses for such violence.

“Our drivers are foreign but they support the British economy, even if it is only in a small way.”

EVA SPED currently has 10 lorries and transports goods between Britain and countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany.

But Mr Ehrhardt said he wasn’t sure if the attacks on the foreign lorries were part of the wider malaise of xenophobia and racism following British voters’ decision to leave the European Union last month.

He added: “In the past we have often had the problem of British people thinking the L on our registration plates stands for Latvia or Lithuania in Eastern Europe.

“If the youths are motivated by the referendum, I would like to send them a message to watch our trucks. While we are based in Luxembourg, our logo shows the British Union Flag.

“Our business is based almost exclusively on British traffic. With our logo we wanted to show our pride and support for the British economy.

“Even though we are not British, it seems to me that our pride is stronger than the youths who damaged our truck.”

The driver reported the incident to the police who then carried out a search of the area, but were unable to find those responsible. No drivers are believed to have been hurt during the incident.

A Kent Police spokesman said officers are investigating the incident, and anyone with information should call 01892 222289 and quote reference number ZY/024590/16.