"Low-life" burglars rob raffle prizes from Halifax pre-school

Warley Pre-School, based at St John's Church. Credit: Google Street View.

Having allegedly broken in through a window on Tuesday night, the villains helped themselves to fundraising raffle prizes collected ahead of tomorrow night's Valentine's Disco, as well as electrical items belonging to staff.

Staff arriving at the pre-school on Wednesday morning also found a bag full of the children's snacks left by the door and suspect the assailants intended to steal the children's food.

The school is based out of St John's Church Hall on Windle Royd Lane.

Jo Hampshire, the pre-school co-owner, said: "I was in absolute shock to think that they'd steal from children.

"They're just absolute low-lives. We've had iPads, kindles and a mobile phone taken but to think they'd steal raffle prizes ready for the children's Valentine's disco is beggar's belief."

In the days since the break-in, the local community have responded in kind, donating a number of items for the raffle to replace those taken.

"The response has been amazing and we can't thank people enough for coming forward and giving us what they can.

"We've had so many gifts that we've actually got more items than we had in the first place!"

West Yorkshire Police said that investigations are ongoing and are appealing for anybody who saw anything suspicious or that has any information to call 101 referencing crime reference number 13180074634.