COMPUTERS worth more than £10,000 were stolen from a Ramsbottom school in a daring raid while night classes were being held.

Thieves kicked in a door panel to get into Woodhey High School on Monday night (March 26).

The door of the technology suite was then forced open and 20 hard disks were stolen.

Now the head of the school, Mr Martin Braidley is appealing for anyone with information on the theft to get in touch with either the school or the police.

He told the Bury Times: "It is just absolutely awful and dreadful what has happened. The school is working to a limited budget and trying to provide pupils with the best equipment and then this happens." Around a quarter of the school's information technology resources were taken in the raid, putting extra pressure on GCSE students who depended on the computers to complete their coursework.

The state-of-the-art computers had only been installed twelve months ago. The information technology suite was paid for by the local education authority and the school's own fund-raising efforts.

"The pupils are very upset, but fortunately most of the coursework has been completed but there are outstanding pieces that need completing and pupils are having to work during their lunch," said Mr Braidley.

He added: "We believe the theft took place around 7pm and 7.30pm when night classes were in progress. I am no police officer, but there must have been more than one person to carry the computers and probably some vehicles used. If anyone knows anything then I would urge them to contact either myself at the school or the police."

A police spokesman added: "There must have been either a van or a number of cars in the area to transport the stolen equipment. If anyone saw anything suspicious or has information about the raid, please contact Bury operations policing unit on 0161 856 8157 quoting GMP reference 948245/01."