THREE hundred pupils were turned away from lessons this week after a vandal attack on their school.

Teachers at St Peter's CE Primary School took the decision to close the Whitefield Road school on Monday (Feb 7) after thugs hurled milk bottles through windows, causing £1,000 worth of damage.

It was the fourth time the school had been targeted by vandals since the beginning of the year.

However, pupils and staff were able to return the following day after the mess was cleared.

In the latest attack, six windows were shattered between 3am and 6.30am. Police are now carrying out house-to-house inquiries and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Broken glass littered the floor of one of the classrooms and shards fell into kitchen equipment, making it unsafe for the children to be in school.

Head teacher Mrs Jill Scholes said: "Two reception class windows were broken and the classroom floor was covered in glass. It was too dangerous to hold lessons there.

"Kitchen windows were also broken and we could not prepare any meals until the glass had been removed." Mrs Scholes said she was "devastated" that vandals had struck once more.

She added: "We are fighting a losing battle. It is the children who are suffering."

The damage was discovered by the school caretaker when he arrived for work.

Mrs Scholes said that the school had a milk delivery around 3am each day. The vandals used the full bottles as missiles.

She continued: "Somebody has been stealing milk on a regular basis. We only recently changed to glass bottles from cartons."

Teachers had to turn parents and pupils away as they started arriving for school.

Mrs Scholes said: "We weren't able to tell everyone about the vandalism but those who knew were horrified. We work together here as a team and as a family. We are asking parents to support us with funds and now this has happened."

The school's 300 pupils were back in school on Tuesday. But replacing all of the broken windows could take some time.

Mrs Scholes said: "We have boarded up the windows and will replace them when we can afford to. Unfortunately, some will have to be boarded up permanently. The remaining ones will have to be fitted with crime shields which cost £400 each. At three windows per classroom, the cost is going to be steep."

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