A VANDAL attack on a former Newport council candidate's car has been condemned as "disgusting" by members of the Senedd.

Michael Enea told the Argus earlier this week he felt "targeted" by the culprits who damaged and threw eggs at his car outside his city home.

The Conservative Party activist, who ran for election to the city council in May, said he believed the incident was "planned".

It's not the first time Mr Enea has suffered vandalism at his home - he said the rear of his house was damaged previously, costing £1,100 to fix.

Mr Enea said the latest incident was "deflating" and had been "extremely unsettling" for his daughter.

In the Senedd, Conservative MS Sam Rowlands condemned the "abhorrent abuse" and asked the Welsh Government how it could protect those who stood for local government office.

"We have to give respect to anybody who puts themselves forward as a candidate for a community council, town council or county council election, because it does take an element of bravery to do that," said local government minister Rebecca Evans. "And the abuse of any candidate is absolutely unacceptable and we have to do everything that we can to prevent it."

Ms Evans said the government had removed the need for candidates to provide publicly their home address.

Awareness work with the public was ongoing, she added, to "bridge some of that gap between the lack of understanding that some people will have and the actual immense dedication that people put into these roles".

Mr Rowlands said the attacks such as the vandalism to Mr Enea's property were "clearly... not just a recent issue as well, or a single issue for one candidate".

He added: "We saw, in May's elections, that paint was thrown over cars owned by a long-serving Swansea councillor, which led to irreparable damage. 

"We saw two councillors in Caerphilly receive abuse letters, calling them all sorts of things and the police had to get involved in that.

"In addition, a Cardiff councillor, who'd been a councillor here for a long time, shared some horrific stories about some of the abuse that she has had to face up to over recent years."

Ms Evans said more had to be done "to help councillors understand that this kind of behaviour isn't acceptable, because there's often an inclination on the part of elected representatives to think that abuse just comes with the job, and it absolutely shouldn't".

She added: "You would expect individual local authorities to be putting in place the appropriate plans to support the welfare and the well-being of those councillors, but also to be working in partnership locally with the police, who can also provide additional support and advice, as necessary, for the more serious kind of abuse and, in some cases, almost violence, that you've described."