A FOX put paid to a school’s chicken adoption scheme when it massacred a group of hens which had been let out of their coop by someone who broke into the school.

Hans Price Academy in Marchfields Way had offered people the chance to sponsor one of its eight chickens for �5 a year.

The scheme had proven a big success, and even earned celebrity backing from Men Behaving Badly star Martin Clunes. But an intruder climbed over the school’s wall and let the chickens out on Friday night, leading to all but one of the animals being killed by a fox.

Hans Price’s Helen Bliss said: “The kids are devastated because they raised them.

“We are offering people the chance to get their money back but everyone has been very understanding and told us to keep it. We are hoping to put it towards new chickens, so people can sponsor them instead.

“I want to thank everyone for their help. We have had a really good response, and lots of friends of hens on Facebook.”

She said if new chickens are bought, they will be kept in a more secure place.