A CRIME-plagued school which is waiting to find out if it will get cash to pay for security cameras has been hit by burglars.

St Hilda's High in Burnley, has applied to county hall for £8,750 to help pay towards the cost of CCTV cameras in the school grounds.

Vandals and burglars have already cost the Catholic girls school more than £60,000 in the last two years.

And in the latest incidents thieves broke into the school's music rooms four times in one weekend. The bill for the latest spate of raids could come to more than £4,000 once the stolen property is replaced and damage repaired.

Police and Burnley Council have been working closely with the school in an attempt to solve the mounting problems.

And the school was included in Burnley's bid for government funding for CCTV cameras for the town.

The total cost of installing cameras at the school is £35,000 and the Home Office has agreed around £24,000 towards the final figure.

The school head teacher Bernadette Bleasdale said: "It would make financial sense for the council to approve this funding for us.

"The county council's policy is to repair damage and replace any stolen items. In the past two years crime has cost this school well over £60,000.

"Surely that figure would be cut drastically if we had cameras installed on the school grounds."

The head teacher added: "The police and borough council have done a lot of work to make sure this scheme will work. "We sent an earlier bid to the county council and they told us they would look at the situation again if the scheme was approved by the Home Office."

Burnley county councillor John Entwistle is the chairman of governors at St Hilda's.

He will be arguing the school's case at a county council education sub-committee on Tuesday.

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