Children at a West Oxfordshire primary school started the new term surrounded by buckets and soggy newspaper after thieves stripped the lead from their roof.

The metal was torn from the roof edging and a dormer window at Wychwood Primary School in Milton Road, Shipton-under-Wychwood, during the Christmas holidays.

Headteacher Lindsay Daulton said: “When we returned to school it was rather inclement weather and there were lots of leaks, so when the children came back there were buckets and newspaper on the floor.

“There were puddles in the corridors.

“It’s taken up the valuable time of the school premises manager, who is also the bursar. She’s had to get people in to fix it and make sure all the leaks are going to be repaired, and we’re going to have to pay the excess to the insurance company. It’s really disappointing that somebody would look on a school as an opportunity for theft. What an awful start to the new year for us.”

Police have urged people to contact them on 101 if they spotted anyone at the school during the holidays.

Ch Insp Colin Paine said that, driven by increasing scrap metal prices, thieves are now going to greater lengths to make stolen lead and copper difficult for legitimate scrapyards to identify.

“Offenders are burning off the insulating plastic so they are just left with the copper,” he said.