The vandals left a trail of damage at Grylls Community Middle School in Hightown, which is due to close for good in 10 weeks.

Headteacher Linda Dawson said everyone was deeply disappointed by what had happened.

"It's just mindless vandalism. They've damaged French doors and broken windows in the art, science, ICT and dining rooms," she said.

"It's yet another insurance claim and it doesn't bode well for when the building closes in the summer.

"It's disrupting for us, but our main concern is that someone is going to get hurt –whether it's someone in the school being cut by the broken glass, or the culprits themselves.

"The whole staff are upset as are the children, especially after all they've been through in the last couple of years.

"We've kept morale up despite everything, we got a really good HMI monitoring report and we're going out on a high, only for this to happen."

Deputy headteacher Jeanette Peel added: "Closure is becoming a reality and within weeks we won't be here.

"Residents are already worried about what will happen to the building and have expressed concerns about children coming onto the premises and drinking in the evenings and at weekends."

Staff urged anyone with information on the vandalism to contact police on 0845 6060606.