A new school in Oxford is having to remain closed after being hit by vandals twice during the summer break.

The two attacks during recent weeks at Bayards Hill Primary School in Wayneflete Road, Barton, are estimated to have left a repair bill of more than £100,000.

Staff gave up part of their holidays to help clear up the mess, to make sure the school -- an amalgamation of the former Bayswater Middle School and Barton Village First School -- would be able to welcome its pupils on September 4.

But headteacher Ron Holland, who has taught at both schools over the past ten years, decided to delay the re-opening until September 8, to allow his staff to get their classrooms organised and ready for lessons.

Mr Holland, 55, described the repeated vandalism as sickening.

In the first attack at the start of the holidays, intruders got into the water tower on the roof, and broke a mains pipe, which caused massive flooding of classrooms, staff room, school hall, dining area and kitchens.

The vandals struck again just ten days ago, when cladding was stripped from the rear of the main building and dropped down a ventilator shaft into the main fan, knocking out the school's air-conditioning.

They also broke in through a window and sprayed paint over walls and carpets.