Vital part stolen from Telford special school's minibus

Haughton School, in Queen Street, Madeley, relies on the bus to take primary age children of all years on regular outings to places like the theatre, swimming and to use the gym at the nearby Bridge School.

But all of its activities have been put on hold after thieves scaled the schools 7ft high perimeter fence to steal the minibus's prop shaft.

The school is now unable to use the bus and is stuck with a £1,000 bill to fix the damage.

Early years coordinator Anne Morris said she had been planning to take the school's youngest children on a trip to the Christmas Experience at Thomas Land in the Drayton Manor Theme Park but that has now had to be cancelled while their bus is awaiting repair.

She said: "You can imagine how enraged we were. It is obviously someone who knew what they were looking for.

"It is used weekly for a lot of different activities.

"We can claim on our insurance but we still need to pay the excess which is still about the same as the cost of the damage.

"It is very very maddening, the whole thing."

"Also a lot of our children need a regular daily routine, we have a lot of children who have autism and need that routine.

"Even our littlest children know Wednesday is swimming pool, Friday is the gym.

"It is such a shame, especially this week which is Children in Need week."

The pupils and staff are now appealing for help from local people to get the bus repaired.

Mrs Morris said: "Obviously a lot of people will be supporting Children in Need nationally, so we're just asking them for a little bit of help locally."

Anyone who wants to help the school should contact them by calling 01952 387 540 or visit them on Queen Street in Madeley.