DISAPPOINTED children at a Burnley school turned up for the start of the new term clutching designs for a new play area - only to find burglars had stolen the cash to pay for it.

Pupils at Sunnybank Preparatory School, in Manchester Road, found the front entrance boarded up yesterday morning following a break-in over the weekend.

Burglars had searched through classrooms throughout the building and stolen £455 of school funds which was intended to pay for a new dining room floor and £200 which parents had raised to pay for a new play area.

The cash had been raised through a variety of events organised by pupils' parents with the aim of redesigning a stretch of land as an outdoor play area for the nursery school pupils.

Junior school children had been set a project to design the new play area over the Easter break.

Headteacher Barbara Cross reported the burglary on Sunday evening after a member of staff noticed the front door of the school had been damaged.

She said: "I'm more bothered in some ways about the money the parents had raised being stolen than about the money for the new floor.

"We have a large playground for older children and a small, separate area but the nursery school children don't get a lot of opportunity to play outside.

"We were hoping to create a special facility for them and the parents have really helped by raising funds.

"I gave the junior school pupils an Easter project to see if they could design the play area themselves and they have all turned up with some really good ideas.

"We still hope the project will go ahead and we do have another fundraising event coming up but this is a real setback.

"It's a disappointment for everybody and the children don't really understand why anyone would do this."

DS Simon Cheyte, of Burnley CID, said: "If anyone has seen anything suspicious at the school over the weekend I would ask them to contact us."

The parents' next fundraising event will be a summer fete on May 29.

Anyone with information about the burglary should call Burnley CID on 01282 472144 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.