Dozens of boards, belonging to a new estate agents, were torn down and stolen in the middle of the night.

Sales manager Ryan Tuke from 1Residential, in Garratt Lane, Tooting, suspects the company’s boards were sabotaged by a rival, on Sunday, August 31.

The agency has been open for just under four months and estimate the damage will cost them up to £1,000.

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The company reported the incident to police along with CCTV footage captured by one of their clients.

Mr Tuke, 30, from Purley, has worked as an estate agent for 10 years, and said: "The total amount of boards in the end was about 16.

"I was off on Monday but had two emails from clients asking us why we had taken our boards down. Then we discovered, on driving around the local area, our boards had been taken.

"One of the clients had CCTV - we saw a board being taken down and being put in the back of a van.

"We have put the boards back up now. The technique of stealing boards hadn’t been done to me for a long time. It is an age-old thing.

"We are flattered a little bit because it does show that we are ruffling feathers for another agent to feel the need to sabotage the way we are marketing.

"It means we are doing something right but obviously it is quite saddening they have to do that. It says more about them than it does us.

"We will not be bullied and will continue to expand and grow the business."

A spokeswoman for Wandsworth police said they were investigating the criminal damage and at this stage there had been no arrests or charges.

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Mr Tuke outside their new premises in Garratt Lane