Nursery, football club and sailors in Portsmouth face bills of thousands after vandalism

Ten tablets worth £1,200 used to record children’s progress were stolen from Rose Lodge Nursery School in South Parade, Southsea, owner David Sandiford said.

He said the burglary at the four-storey building is believed to have happened at about 1am on Sunday when the kitchen back door was kicked in.

About £100 in petty cash was taken from a locked drawer and items thrown around an office.

A safe – which did not contain valuables – was attacked with a hammer and hacksaw, he added.

‘They went through looking for items of value,’ he said.

He added: ‘They’re lowlife, worthless people. Everybody was horrified and the parents were disgusted to hear of it.’

It is believed to have happened between 6.15pm on Friday and 8am the next day.

Also on Saturday, a work party carrying out a £100,000 improvement scheme at Baffins Milton Rovers stadium in Kendall Wharf, Eastern Road, were horrified to discover £15,000 of damage.

Metal shutters had been ripped off the changing rooms and hospitality areas, Perspex sheets damaged on the dugouts and items were taken off the wall with some being partly burnt.

Manager Louis Bell said: ‘It’s devastating. As a community club we’re trying to work so hard to get the club up and running.

‘We rocked up on Saturday for a work party shift and to get everything ready as we had a game.

‘We found the shutters ripped off the dressing room and windows smashed.’

He added: ‘It’s wanton vandalism – we’ve got nothing there of value.’

Vandals are believed to have struck at the club between 4.30pm on Friday and 7.30am on Saturday.

Club secretary Yvonne Fradgley Smith said: ‘It’s mindless vandalism for the sake of it. They couldn’t steal anything so they just smashed it up instead.’

The nearby Tudor Sailing Club, was targeted, with vandals bending razor wire fencing to get access to 16 boats.

Hatches were broken and screwdrivers and tools were taken, club commodore Hannah Barnes said. But she said nothing of value was stored in the boats.

She added: ‘All of our members are hard-working local people, we’re a relatively competitively priced sailing club – if we do get damage it’s not very nice for those people.’

Some of the stolen property was left dumped in a hedge.

Police said there is no firm link between the two Eastern Road incidents.

Call 101 with information quoting 44160074984 for the nursery, 44160073773 for the football club and 44160074068 for the sailing club. No arrests have been made.