POLICE are appealing for witnesses after thieves stole hundreds of slates from the roof of a West Devon primary school.

More than 300 Delabole slates were removed, and a further 300 damaged, during the theft at Milton Abbot Primary School last weekend.

The slates are worth about £2 each, and Devon County Council will face a repair bill running into thousands of pounds.

Headteacher Peter Jones said the theft, which occurred some time between 7pm last Friday and 8am on Monday, had left staff and pupils very angry.

?It has caused a great deal of inconvenience and we?re all very angry about it,? he said. ?We?ve had to fence off areas of the playground to allow the builders to climb onto the roof and bring down the remaining slates.

?The builders have been making everything watertight and we are still checking out the internal fixtures and fittings because rain water was coming in.

?We are amazed that somebody has done this.?

He said the damage inside the building could have been worse, and the school caretaker was able to mop up the rain water on Monday morning.

?They?ve taken bits from eleven different roof faces, which makes the repairs that much more difficult,? he added.

PC Steve Saunders, of Tavistock police, said a similar theft had been carried out at Gulworthy school a few weeks ago, and urged people to be on the lookout for suspicious behaviour with half term approaching.

He said: ?Unfortunately, this seems to be a growing trend at the moment and we would urge people to check up on their local school during the half-term break.

?The problem is most people would assume somebody on a school roof was carrying out work.?

He said the slates may have been stolen with the intention of selling them, or for private use elsewhere.

The police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity at the school over the weekend, or perhaps seen a vehicle parked nearby.

Anybody with information should contact Tavistock police, quoting crime reference JT/03/618.