RAIDERS caused thousands of pounds worth of damage at a factory before using company phones to ring sex chat lines.

Production at Vernon Carus, Johnson New Road, Hoddlesden, has been severely disrupted following the break-in.

Police believe children are responsible and say they went on a rampage, spraying fire extinguishers and searching through lockers before ringing the lines and eating fish and chips bought nearby.

Roland Spencer, works manager, said: "The door wasn't very secure but they scaled a roof to get into the building and that, in itself, is very dangerous."

The factory employs 110 people, and produces sterile equipment such as bandages, burns dressings and swabs for the NHS and foreign companies.

The break-in meant that sterile equipment could not be produced by the contaminated machines.

Mr Spencer added: "They sprayed the extinguishers everywhere and we couldn't even start the weaving loom.

"That means six people haven't been able to work since the incident and it could eventually be another six."

The financial loss to the factory depends on how long it takes to clear up the mess, but police estimate it could run into the thousands.

DS Paul Elms of Darwen CID said: "The vandals made a mess of the place. They didn't cause much external damage but it's probably thousands of pounds when you look at the damage done to the machines.

"Telephone numbers for the sex lines were found close to the phones and our checks have revealed that they made a series of calls."

Staff lockers were searched by the vandals and a factory window was smashed. They used the phones to call explicit sex lines while eating fish and chips, police have established from the left-over debris.

Mr Spencer said: "We can't put a figure on it at the moment but it has caused massive disruption within the factory.

"We don't know when it will all be cleaned up by and with sterile material you have to check, double check and then triple check, so I really have no idea when we'll be up and running.

"This is wilful damage which affects people's livelihoods."

DS Elms is asking parents to think about where their children were at about 8pm on Sunday night. Anyone with any information should call Darwen Police on 01254 353842 or Crimestoppers on 0845 555111.