A headmaster today praised generous parents who rallied round after vandals smashed 24 school windows in a single week.

David Ogden has been inundated with offers of cash to replace glass at Wickford County Junior School, in Market Road, Wickford.

He says he's confident local community spirit will help stem further attacks.

Vandals broke a few panes, then returned a couple of nights later to smash 24 windows, causing £300 damage.

Mr Ogden said: "The attack was really very, very petty and malicious, with stones thrown at all the windows.

"They are laminated for the children's safety, so they must have really been trying to break them."

Mr Ogden also praised a resident in flats near the school who called the police. Officers were quickly on the scene and although the youths weren't caught, further damage was avoided.

The headteacher added: "The fact one of our neighbours phoned the police immediately was really very positive.

"Although we're in the centre of Wickford, we back on to fields and are quite isolated here, so we depend on residents to look out for us."

Vandalism at the adjoining infants' school has forced the installation of security cameras, but the junior school site is too open for cameras, or large, enclosing fences, to be effective. Wickford police are now investigating the vandalism.

The town has been plagued with trouble over the last few months with the fire station, a doctor's surgery, a nursing home and shops all hit by yobs.

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