CHILDREN at a Witney school have been left without vital sports equipment after vandals left a trail of destruction that will cost £1,000 to replace.

Tower Hill Primary School’s football team nearly had to cancel a game after teachers found four plastic goalposts had been smashed on Thursday morning.

They believe vandals, who also pulled off a shed door and put two garden benches on the school roof, used a hockey stick found on the school field the previous night to destroy the equipment.

Police are investigating the incident but have not said they have found any suspects yet.

School business manager Kate Walsh said: “We’re very angry - we’re quite a sporty school but it’s going to take a few weeks to replace the goalposts.

“The year six football team had a game yesterday afternoon so we had to borrow some goalposts from Tower Hill Football Club, otherwise we would have had to cancel it.

“It’s also quite dangerous because there are sharp bits of plastic all over the field.

“The children are quite upset and worried that someone has been in the school while they aren’t here.

“The police have been to look at it but because we don’t have CCTV they have no evidence to use.

“They’ve asked neighbours but it was Bonfire Night so there were a lot of fireworks.”

Ms Walsh said the school will claim back the money through its insurance policy.

She added that the shed included Christmas decorations but nothing was stolen.

The school’s PE teacher Joel Graham said: “More than 50 children take part in football clubs as part of our after school club but these will be disrupted now that we have no goal nets.”

Pupil Quinn Savage, 10, said: “I feel angry and upset that our goal nets have been vandalised.”

Regan Pritchard, also 10, added: “I feel annoyed that I can’t play my favourite sport with my friends.”

Witney Town Council recreation committee chairman Chris Holliday said: “It’s absolutely appalling and mindless vandalism.

“There seem to be pockets of vandalism in Witney. The police idenitify problem areas and then it goes somewhere else.

“We get vandalism reports at council meetings and it seems to be an ongoing problem.

“Schools struggle with their budgets as it is and they really don’t need added expenditure.”

Police spokeswoman Rhianne Pope said the incident was being treated as a burglary and investigations were ongoing.

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