THIEVES made off with computer equipment worth thousands of pounds during two raids at a Backwell school. The raiders smashed

THIEVES made off with computer equipment worth thousands of pounds during two raids at a Backwell school.The raiders smashed their way through two locked doors at Backwell School last Thursday and took 30 laptops, worth around £400 each, from the computer suite.The canny raiders had even planned their escape route with their haul, cutting large holes in the tennis court netting so they could make a quick getaway.Police were called to the scene and used sniffer dogs to try and catch the raiders, but they had already escaped.Some of the laptops were new and were due to be allocated to teaching staff at the school.This is not the first time the school has been targeted by thieves this year.During the summer holidays, while contractors were working on the site, thieves sneaked their way in and stole 10 data projectors, worth £1,000 each and two laptops from the maths block.Backwell School bursar Katherine Martin said: "The thefts have been a real blow and it has disturbed lessons in the sense that the equipment is not there for the staff to use."However, staff have been working very hard to ensure minimum disruption and try to make sure it is very much business as usual."The school is now upgrading its security in a bid to thwart further thefts.Mrs Martin added: "We feel that whoever is responsible for the raids knew exactly what they were looking for."We review security regularly and have put new measures in for the start of term and will be doing more. "The property is all insured and will be replaced, but the two major thefts, coming on top of each other, have left us very disheartened at the disruption to our students' education and the waste of staff time."Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.