THIEVES broke into a rural Flintshire primary school and stole more than a thousand pounds worth of computer equipment.

They forced their way into Rhos Helyg Primary School, in Rhosesmor, overnight on Tuesday.

Three windows were smashed to gain entry into the classrooms and three laptops were stolen, worth in the region of £400 each.

Headteacher Gareth Roberts said the thefts would cause great inconvenience to the pupil’s education.

He told the Leader: “The laptops were for the pupils to use. Fortunately, we do have quite a lot of laptops, but when you lose three it’s such a nuisance because we are sharing them one between two. It’s just the inconvenience it causes.”

The culprits forced their way into three of the school’s six classrooms.

Mr Roberts added: “They actually broke in three times because they smashed the window into one classroom and then into the next and then into the next.

“There are no lights around so how they could see what they were doing I don’t know.

“You couldn’t see the laptops through the window because they were well hidden, but what’s incredible is that there were three laptops side by side and they picked up an old one and left a new one behind.”

The caretaker discovered the damage when she arrived at the school on Wednesday morning.

The three targeted classrooms were closed on Wednesday while the glass was cleared up and new windows are due to be installed today.

Mr Roberts is now considering increased security at the school.

He added: “We are in quite a rural location here and we are very lucky normally because we have had very few incidents, but because we are so rural there’s no CCTV and very few people live nearby. We will have to look at doing something to increase security now.”

North Wales Police confirmed they are investigating the incident.