SCHOOLS in the Hadleigh area have been left "saddened and disappointed" by a string of burglaries.Four primary schools suffered break-ins over the weekend and though thieves did little damage, the schools have been left shocked by the burglaries.

SCHOOLS in the Hadleigh area have been left "saddened and disappointed" by a string of burglaries.

Four primary schools suffered break-ins over the weekend and though thieves did little damage, the schools have been left shocked by the burglaries.

Whatfield Primary School was burgled just last week when thieves broke in and took two laptop computers.

Between Friday evening and Saturday morning the school was attacked again, with five new computers being stolen – four were later found in an adjacent field.

Headteacher, Joan Wardle said: "We're saddened and disappointed by what has happened – this has disrupted our curriculum.

"Although we have the computers back, they were left out in the rain and we have to have them checked for damage."

If the computers have only suffered minimal damage they could be up and running within a week and the school can try to return to normal.

The school has already improved security measures and hopes that this will deter future burglars.

East Bergholt Primary School in School Road, East Bergholt; Elmsett Primary School in The Street, Elmsett and Kersey Primary School in Cherry Hill, Kersey were also targeted at the weekend.

A small sum of cash was taken from two of the schools while Kersey Primary reported nothing missing.

A spokeswoman for Hadleigh police said: "We are linking the four most recent school burglaries which happened over Friday evening and Saturday morning.

"We are liasing with schools and advising them on what security measures can be introduced."

Anyone with any information about these burglaries should call Ipswich police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.