THIEVES have been caught on CCTV stealing a safe full of charity money from school.

Intruders broke into Haslingden Primary School at around 3am on April 17 and stole the school’s safe and a 'significant' amount of money.

Footage shows the offenders carrying the safe out of the building through the storeroom window.

Video then shows them dragging the safe to the front of the Ryefield Avenue school where it was loaded into a vehicle.

The school said £1,200 of money raised for Sports Relief was among things stolen.

Glyn Ellis, headteacher of the school, described the incident as 'upsetting and hurtful'.

He said in a Facebook post: "You may have seen the broken glass leading into the main office’s storeroom on Ryefield Avenue as you came to school this morning.

"The police attended the incident and a scenes of crime officer has also visited to remove evidence from the scene including CCTV footage.

"No one has been injured or harmed however it saddens me to report that just over £1200 of money raised for Sports Relief was among several things stolen.

"As I am writing this letter and reflecting on the impact of this crime it feels even more upsetting and hurtful."

He said the school would now be looking to raise amount stolen again and is calling for people to donate money to Sports Relief.

He said : "I am determined as the headteacher of this school and a member of our community in Rossendale that they will not deprive Sports Relief of the money that we raised for them.

"If you can donate any money to help us raise the amount that was stolen, I would be grateful.

"We will take cash/cheque donations at the school office or you can donate on our school money website.

"I’ve calculated that if every child could donate £3, we would raise the stolen amount and I’m sure with other donations from staff and the community we can turn this horrible situation into a positive and raise more money than first time around.

"As with previous incidents that have affected our school, I am grateful that we live in a school community that looks after each other and pull together when adversity strikes."

A police spokesman said: "We were called at 7.30am yesterday to reports of a burglary.

"It was reported that just after 3am that morning, an unknown number of offenders approached the school and broke a window to gain entry to a nearby room.

"They then went into the office and searched it before lifting the safe and taking the cash."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting crime reference EF1805233.