THREE youngsters are being hunted in connection with a vandal attack on a Farnworth high school which caused £1,200 worth of damage.

Police have released pictures of the attack in which stones were hurled through windows in the hope that Bolton Evening News readers will be able to help identify the three youths.

Windows were smashed at the rear of St James CE High School, Lucas Road, Farnworth, on Sunday, November 14.

Three youths, believed to be in their early teens, used stones to break windows. One is described as white and was wearing a blue long sleeved hooded top with white tracksuit bottoms and black trainers.

The second is also white and was wearing a red, long-sleeved top, black tracksuit bottoms with a white strip down the leg and black trainers.

The third was wearing a dark grey long sleeved top, light grey tracksuit bottoms and dark trainers.

Sgt Ian Coop of Bolton Police urged the public to help trace the three.

"This was a serious and mindless attack on a school which we are treating very seriously," he said.

"The pictures very clearly show the clothes of the people we are keen to trace and I would urge anybody who thinks they might recognise them to come forward with any information they may have."

The cost of vandal attacks to schools across Bolton has been estimated at £500,000 each year.

As well as vandalism, secondary and high schools are often forced to shoulder the costs of burglaries and arson attacks.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Bolton Police on 0161 856 5593 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting Crime reference number 306978K/04. All calls will be treated in confidence.