BURGLARS smashed their way into a school closed by the snow, helped themselves to £40,000 of electrical equipment, and vandalised classrooms.

Thieves stole top of the range computers and cameras as they raided the empty classrooms of Blessed Trinity RC College on Thursday.

Teachers and pupils returned to college yesterday after the snowfall only to find “heartbreaking” scenes of destruction and chaos.

It is estimated that 25 laptops and around 20 digital cameras were stolen in the raid.

Lesson plans and teacher’s study notes were also taken in the burglary that took place in broad daylight.

Father Brian Kealey, the chair of governors at the school, said: “Not for the first time Blessed Trinity has been targeted.

“The thieves have not just damaged the building but the future of our children.

“Though much as the school will manage with this loss, we should not need to because of the action of these thieves.”

It is suspected that the culprits disabled the alarm system by slicing wires after a forced entry.

The thieves targeted the technology block and IT offices to steal of the most expensive equipment.

The burglary is massive setback for Blessed Trinity which was given a promising Ofsted report earlier this year.

Assistant headteacher Phil Thompson, said: “It was an awful feeling for the staff and pupils to return to school to find so many things gone.

“The equipment that was taken included laptops, digital cameras and other expensive equipment, which will be very hard to replace.

“We’ve had to close the classrooms that suffered the most damage so that the police can gather evidence.

“We can assure people that the children’s education will not be hindered by the recent events and that the morale of the staff has not been affected.”

This is the second time in three months Blessed Trinity College has been broken into.

A former heroin addict stole two projectors and a laptop in September, worth a total of £1,200.

The teaching staff will be making every effort to the keep the children’s studies on track, with many of the pupils preparing for their GCSE exams in May.

The college are encouraging anybody with information about the break-in to contact Burnley police on 01282 425 001.