Nursery thieves strike again

THIEVES have stolen children's toys from a church playgroup for the third time in as many years.

• Christine Anderson at the scene of the break-in, which saw thieves steal a large quantity of children's play equipment and toys

All of the children's outdoor play equipment and toys - including a trampoline, bikes and rocking horse - were stolen from a locked shed within the yard of Leith St Andrew's Church.

It is the third consecutive year thieves have broken into the shed while the playgroup has been closed for the summer holidays.

Its management, which relies on fundraising and donations, is now faced with having to raise money to buy the equipment all over again.

Parents and staff have been left devastated by the theft, which was discovered on Thursday when the children were taken out to play in the garden. Until then, they had not realised that the shed been broken into.

An extra bolt had previously been fitted for extra security, and the thieves had unscrewed it but then replaced it after the break-in, to make it look as if the shed hadn't been touched.

Playgroup manager Christine Anderson said: "The playgroup is a charity and we struggle to buy things as it is.

"We had to replace everything after it was stolen last year and now they have taken it all again.

"We rely on donations and fundraising from parents and someone has come along and taken everything from us.

"It's a sickening thing to happen.

"The older children have been asking for things to play with and we are having to tell them that bad people have taken them. We are just wondering whether it's the same people coming back again to do this to us."

Ms Anderson said parents had been left shocked by the incident as they all work hard to raise money for the playgroup.

Parent Donna Learmonth, whose three-year-old son Callum goes to the playgroup, has already donated a trampoline after finding out what happened.

She said: "It's terrible, and I'm very disappointed to hear that people have done this.

"I have a trampoline that I was going to give to charity anyway so I'm giving that to the playgroup to replace the one they lost."

The playgroup's management is asking anyone who can help with replacing the stolen equipment to get in touch.

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police are investigating following a break in and theft from the grounds of a church building in Easter Road.

"A quantity of children's toys were stolen during the incident, which happened sometime between June 30 and the August 23. Anyone who remembers seeing anything suspicious in the area over the past couple of months or who has information that can assist us is asked to contact police immediately."