£1,500 of lead stolen from Telford school roof

A substantial amount of lead was taken and police are appealing to people living in the area to report any activity they saw at the school over the weekend.

Teachers discovered the damage when they arrived for lessons this at the start of the week.

Detectives say the thieves would have struck between 5.45pm on Friday and 6am on Monday. Constable Ben Hocking of West Mercia Police said: "I am appealing for anyone who may have seen anything or heard anything to come forward, including anyone who has seen someone dragging or pulling anything unusual or putting lead into a vehicle."

Sian Deane headteacher at the primary school, in Brookside Avenue, said the total including damage to the roof and chimney could hit £2,000.

Mrs Deane said: "The time and effort that has gone into resolving this has taken myself and staff away from the job we should be doing."

She added: "Our school is very well looked after, like a home for our pupils to feel happy and safe within, but now it doesn't feel like that to know that someone has targeted our school."

"There is a question over the money that will be used to replace it, but it may be that we have to use money that was planned for other improvements."

Residents are being asked to keep an eye on school premises overnight and during the weekends and to report anything suspicious, noting down the registration number of any vehicle being used or arousing suspicion if possible.

Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to contact Constable Hocking on the non-emergency number 101 quoting incident 71-s-100314 or ring the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Alternatively, the charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously via the website www.crimestoppers-uk.org