THIEVES stole play equipment worth more than £2,500 from a Chard primary school over the weekend.

Avishayes School’s Early Years Centre was the victim of burglars who broke into a shed in the school grounds and took eight scooters and eight two-person tricycles.

The school finance officer Nicola Ingarfield said: “They are specialised trikes – some are £250 each, so they are not cheap.”

“It’s very, very disappointing when the kids have just come back from their holidays.”

Early years leader Maggie Simpson said: “It’s a shame because there’s never been a problem here.

“We live in a very safe area and lots of the people living near by are former pupils, so they keep a look out.

“It’s extremely disappointing for the children – coming to the shed this morning to get there being nothing for them to get out and it’s hard to explain the reason why to young children.”

The break-in happened between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

The stolen trikes are made by Rabo and were a distinctive banana yellow colour or silver and purple.

Eight of the trikes were two-person with a platform at the back for another child to stand on.

Police are appealing for anyone with information about the theft to come forward and contact them on 0845-4567000 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555111.