A HEAD teacher is appealing to teenagers not to break into the grounds of her infant school after four were caught on camera after scaling the fence.

Oakridge Infant School in Oakridge Road, Basingstoke, has suffered from vandals damaging the school property in the past, so staff installed a fence in an attempt to deter people from breaking in.

But during the half-term holiday, four teenagers climbed over the fence and trespassed on the school’s playground.

The school is undergoing extensive work to refurbish the outside area, to include a pond, more trees and playground facilities for each classroom.

Angela Genn, head teacher at Oakridge Infants, said she hoped vandals would not destroy the work, most of which has been paid for using hard-earned money from fundraising events organised by parents.

She said: “The fence is a deterrent but if people want to get in they can. We are under no illusion that if someone wants to break in they can do it. We want to be able to leave our equipment outside and for it not to be vandalised.”

The fence was installed about a year ago, partly because of vandalism, but also to prevent people using the school as a short cut to the shops during school hours.

Tiny Oaks pre-school has moved from Oakridge West Community Centre to a new building inside the infant school’s grounds, which opened this week.

Although the teenagers who trespassed during half-term did not appear to cause any damage, Mrs Genn said: “I would ask anyone who is considering breaking in to remember when they were at school and the fun they had with the playground equipment and all the things they used to play with, and remember that there are children here who want to play.”