POLICE are continuing their hunt for thieves who broke into a school and got away with computer equipment worth more than £10,000.

Five youths were seen on security cameras footage breaking into St George Catholic School in Portswood, Southampton, on November 21.

They removed tiles and gained access to the building through the roof before damaging doors and breaking into the stock room.

Fifteen laptop computers, each worth about £700, were stolen. The Travelmate 290 computers had been used for research during geography and history lessons.

Head teacher Helen Knight said: "We were very upset about the fact that equipment, which was enabling boys to have access to the Internet through lap tops in the classroom, was taken away from them.

"It was clearly a professional job. This is damaging the learning opportunities for our lads who have enjoyed using the IT."

Police have not been able to identify any of the youths from the closed-circuit TV footage and it is not known whether they left the scene by foot or car.

PC John Woodfield at Portswood police said: "It is possible that people have been offered one of these computers for sale. We would be very eager to hear from them and anyone with information."

Contact police on 0845 045 4545.