THIS is the mess intruders left at a Chorley school during the late afternoon on Bank Holiday Sunday.

It is not the first time that staff at Mayfield Special School have been called out after people have broken in and damaged their property.

Among the damage included kitchen cupboards being pulled off and graffiti on the doors.

On the school's Facebook page, school bosses said it will cost £1,000 to repair the damage and staff will be trying to return it to a 'usable state'.

They said: "The culprits were disturbed after only a few minutes, and so this could have been a lot worse than it is.

"What is not as easy to clear away is the anger and upset that this has caused.

"Our school has suffered many times over the years in this way, and each occurrence has a real and significant impact on our wonderful pupils and staff, as it makes them feel slightly less safe in what should be a happy, caring and welcoming environment.

"It is genuinely heartening for the school to see that our local community is as shocked and upset as we are about this.

"We really appreciate the very many offers of help.

"We are confident that with the promises we have had that the damage will be sorted in good time and school will open as normal.

"All we want to do with the post is to remind the community of the challenges schools and other organisations often face at this time of year arising from petty crime and vandalism.

Bosses also praised the local police for being 'incredibly supportive and professional'.

PC Rik Nicol said: "Officers attended a report of a burglary after two youths had been disturbed in the act of damaging a classroom.


"One of the youths was pursued and detained with the assistance of the staff member.

"The scene discovered at the school was abhorrent. 

"One of the classrooms had been littered with food, cleaning materials and cruel graffiti, causing significant loss, hurt and inconvenience to the school.

"Fortunately, the quick intervention of the attending headteacher, Mrs Kay, prevented much further loss from occurring.

"Both youths have been identified and will be duly processed. The school will be firmly involved in the resolution of this crime.

"This has been deeply upsetting for the school family, its staff, students and undoubtedly the surrounding community.

"We encourage parents to discuss the impact of such behaviour with their children during school holidays.


"If anyone witnesses such damage being caused to schools in our community, please report immediately using the 999 service."

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page has been created to try to raise funds for the school.

So far the appeal by childcare student Megan Preston has raised £695 and her target is £2,000.

She said: "My brother has visited the school and wanted to go there in September so when I saw it on the Facebook page to say it had happened.

"I am disgusted to see something like this at a school that is helping such vulnerable children.

"It affects the school and the community around them and I wanted to raise money to help repair the damage and also give them a little bit extra to thank to teachers for going to extra lengths to repair the damage."

To donate to the cause visit the page https://www.gofundme.com/mayfield-special-school-vandalism-attack