Burglars target nursery in Forest Gate and cause £1,000 worth of damage
Children had to be relocated from their nursery play room after burglars caused a £1,000 worth of damage at Chestnut Nursery - Credit: Archant
Children were unable to use their playroom after burglars targeted a nursery in Forest Gate and caused about £1,000 worth of damage.
Parents and children arrived at Chestnut nursery on Friday morning to find staff informing them that one of the classrooms had been closed off because the garden door had been smashed and glass scattered everywhere.
Police had arrived at the scene in Chestnut Avenue after the alarm went off and the security company had spotted an intruder on the CCTV camera around midnight.
The burglars had headed straight to the third floor office were they broke the door lock before rummaging through cabinets and drawers. But no nursery fees were kept on the premises and only a tin with a few pennies of petty cash was taken.
Nursery manager Nazreen Mogra said there were around 10 police officers with an Alsatian dog outside when she arrived. But the burglars had managed to “leg it” through the roof window before she unlocked the front door to let the police in, she said.
Ms Mogra, said: “The police were here within minutes and the dog went straight upstairs after I unlocked the door. It was just unfortunate that the burglar or burglars managed to leg it.”
Ms Mogra, who had only taken over as manager the same week, said she felt “disappointed” that people would target a nursery.
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She said: “It’s a kind of safe heaven or second home for the children and it’s quite disappointing that people would steep that low.
“The children couldn’t understand why their normal routine was being upset but we managed to shield them from what had happened.”
Some children were moved to other parts of the nursery while others were relocated to Woodgrange Nursery, another nursery in Sebert Road, also run by the Chestnut chain.
