VANDALS have caused thousands of pounds of damage to a Darlington school.

About 200 tiles were ripped off the roof of St Bede's Primary School, skylights were kicked in and a window was broken.

There have been several vandal attacks on the school and headteacher Clare Taylor is appealing to the public to report anything suspicious to the police.

"We get a lot of vandalism but this is by far the worst we have had in a while," she said.

"Money which we should be spending on the children is being spent repairing the school."

The school is in a residential area and Mrs Taylor believes someone will have seen or heard the culprits.

The school is hoping to invest in closed-circuit television cameras, in an effort to prevent further vandalism incidents.

But Mrs Taylor said she was reluctant to turn the school into a fortress by installing security fencing.

"This is where we live and work. It should not have to look like a prison," she said.

"The children were all very angry after this incident. They have been coming up with some creative, but expensive ways of trying to stop the vandals!"

Inspector Dennis Dixon, of Darlington Police, said: "We need to get help from people around about if the police are to do something about it."