POLICE believe the same gang may be behind a wave of break-ins at Bolton schools after a third raid in the space of nine days.

Detectives are linking the latest break-in — at Kearsley Academy on Tuesday night — to two burglaries at Horwich Parish Church Primary School last week.

In all three cases, thousands of pounds of computer equipment were stolen.

Security has been stepped up at both schools and police are increasing patrols around school premises across the whole town in a bid to catch the culprits and prevent future raids.

Kearsley Academy said the theft was "dismaying" and said pupils had been "unsettled".

In the latest raid, three men were caught on CCTV, armed with a 2x4 piece of wood and a large piece of carpet, walking across the grounds of the school at about 10pm on April 21.

They had emerged from fields next to the school, and then cut the padlock off the exterior metal gate before smashing the window of a music room to get inside the school.

The thieves stole eight Apple iMac computers, each worth about £1,000, before leaving through the same broken window, possibly carrying the loot in a Sports Direct bag.

Det Insp Charlotte Cadden said: "The people committing these burglaries are directly affecting children's education, causing serious disruption to the schools as well as major financial loss.

"The iPads will activate at some point and we will then be in a position to track them down.

"This could lead to any purchasers being arrested for handling stolen goods."

Police want to hear from anyone who might have been offered any of the items stolen.

Kearsley Academy principal Suzanne Pountain  said: "This is a significant loss for the academy and it is dismaying that we have been targeted in this way.

“Kearsley Academy is very much a part of the community it serves and it continues to set high standards and encourages pupils to work hard and to achieve their very best.

“The provision of equipment such as the iMacs ensures that our students are working on the most up-to-date equipment and helps them to develop the skills they will need in further education or the workplace.

“Whilst the missing computers will not hinder the learning progress for the students, the burglary is unsettling for the pupils, staff and also the local community.

"However, we have been able to remotely disable the computers which leave them useless for resale and make the burglary even more pointless.”

Horwich Parish was raided on Sunday, April 12, when thieves wrenched apart security bars to break in before stealing 27 iPad Minis and two Fujitsu Siemens laptops.

Four days later, the school was targeted again, with thieves smashing a window to get inside, stealing 15 Acer laptops and cutting a large hole in a fence with pliers to escape.

Devastated staff estimated that the incidents had left them more than £10,000 out of pocket.

The Kearsley Academy raid is the second time the music room at the school has been ransacked in five months.

In November last year, a trolley containing 14 laptops was snatched and opened on the school field, with 10 computers stolen before the thieves fled when police arrived.

On that occasion, the main door to the school was forced open with a piece of wood.

Anyone with information can call police on 0161 8565619 or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555111.