A HEADTEACHER who employed security guards to protect his school from thieves says that the measures are working -- but at a price.

Tony Buckley, of George Tomlinson School, Kearsley, has spent thousands of pounds on security measures to keep his school secure from thieves who have stolen more than £36,000 worth of computer equipment in the last seven months.

The security guards have cost the school £2,800 since they were employed by Mr Buckley after the last break-in several weeks ago.

And the school plans to install a £24,000 security camera system in the new year, in addition to £5,000 already spent on other security measures.

Mr Buckley said: "It's disappointing that we've had to spend so much money on security measures, rather than on the pupils, but we've had to protect what we've got.

"The security measures are working, we haven't had any break-ins or vandalism since we employed the security guards.

"They have acted as a deterrent."

Mr Buckley had hoped to put the money towards employing an extra classroom assistant, replacing old computers and generally sprucing up the school.

The Springfield Road school is patrolled 24-hours a day, with security guards monitoring the grounds from 7pm until 6am. The school caretaker takes over in the daytime.

The school decided to step up their security after a string of break-ins by thieves.

Last month, raiders broke into the school and stole 25 lap top computers, worth £20,000.

And earlier in May, pupils and teachers were left heartbroken when thieves stole £16,000 worth of computer equipment.

Tony Buckley added: "The stolen computers did cause some disruption, with students losing their work that had been saved on the hard drive, but we've managed to find ways to retrieve the lost work."