MASKED burglars broke into a school and stole a safe containing £300 raised by pupils and staff for Children In Need.

The pair who smashed a window and made a beeline for the hidden cabinet at Lord Street Primary School in Lord Street, Horwich, were caught on CCTV.

Headteacher Andy Marshall said: "Two masked men broke in. You can't see their faces. They knew exactly what they were going for as they headed straight for and removed the metal safe. They knew where the safe was because it's not like you would accidentally stumble upon it."

The pair were filmed at the school at 9.10pm and were gone by 9.18pm on Wednesday, November 23.

Mr Marshall added: "They were off-site very quickly and took the safe out the same way they came in."

He said it would have taken both men to carry the cumbersome "incredibly heavy" safe.

The burglars disturbed nothing else apart from damaging the window pane. Nothing else was stolen.

They covered their faces and wore gloves so police forensics officers were unable to get any evidence from the crime scene.

Mr Marshall said: "The safe had in it about £1,000 worth of money including £300 that had been raised for Children In Need and lots of prizes, such as gift vouchers, that had been donated by local companies for our Christmas raffle.

"We have reassured the children that the money raised for Children In Need will be claimed back and sent off a little bit later than we had hoped for."

But there was a development earlier this week.

Mr Marshall said: "A member of the public spotted some of the raffle prize envelopes discarded on a cycle path in Stretford and handed them in to a local primary school.

"The school got in touch with us to say they have posted some of them back to us so we'll need to see which ones they are.

"It's an indication of maybe where the thieves came from — they're not local people by the look of this."

Lord Street Primary School will continue with its fundraising raffle on the last day of term, December 19, albeit with a smaller prize pool.

Police are investigating the burglary.