THIEVES have stolen a set of goal posts from a school playing fields.

Staff at South Bank Primary School spotted the posts in the garden of a nearby property but by the time police arrived they had gone.

Headteacher Brenda Urwin said: "As soon as was saw what had happened we called the police because we could see where the posts were in the rear of a garden.

"By the time the police arrived the posts had gone and we will probably not get them back.

"We havent really had that many problems with thefts from the school lately so this was quite unusual."

The theft of the posts was reported on Wednesday morning while many officers were dealing with the industrial action at the Ensus wheat plant.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: "Calls are prioritised by way of importance and urgency. Unfortunately, at the time the call was received a lot of resources were deployed to the Wilton site where a protest was taking place. However, enquiries will be ongoing into the theft as a matter of course."