SCORES of children are writing letters to residents asking them to keep an eye on their school during the summer holidays.

Detective Sergeant Martin Shallow, crime reduction manager at Stockton, said: "It is distressing for many pupils to hear that classrooms have been broken into and trashed and this is their way of helping in the fight against crime.

"We all want to see crime go down and it is heartening that young people are joining an initiative to beat the criminal.

"People living near school buildings that see anything suspicious should ring us.

"At the end of the day, council taxpayers pick up most of the bills and people who help us are, in the long run, helping themselves.''

The letter-writing programme is part of a scheme to help prevent the break-ins and damage caused to schools over the six-week holiday.