HEARTBROKEN toddlers were sent home after vandals showered their Whitefield nursery with glass.

Thugs smashed two windows at Ribble Drive CP School, spraying toys with broken glass.

Staff discovered the damage in the morning and were forced to send home the 22 youngsters.

"We just couldn't guarantee that we had got all the glass picked up," said headteacher Mrs Sue Erswell.

"It was in boxes of toys, building bricks. Just everywhere.

"We think the windows had been hit very hard with something like a golf club. It took the nursery staff most of the morning to clean up and we did open in the afternoon." The school has spent at least £3,500 on repairs after a spate of broken windows in the last few weeks.

Ribble Drive is hoping to get £9,000 as part of the extra money announced by the Government for schools.

But Mrs Erswell said: "We are getting this money with one hand and it is being whipped away by the other.

"It is costing money, a lot of money, for repairs and this is money we would rather be spending on things for the children, for their education.

"We have been exceptionally lucky here and we have good neighbours who contact security if they see anything.

"However, things like smashed windows happen in an instant."

She added: "We do not do anything about our children who come onto the school field to play football. There are not a lot of places for them to play and they behave responsibly.

"It is when older youths come on with golf clubs. The most common thing that breaks our windows are golf balls."