Dovercourt brothers, 8 and 10, raise £1,800 for vandalised bus

Zain Levett, eight, and his brother Zach, 10, smashed their £100 target

Two brothers raised more than £1,800 to repair a vandalised bus that had been donated to the school to be turned into a library.

It was given to Mayflower Primary in Dovercourt, Essex, to be restored but had its windows smashed on 12 January.

Zain and Zach Levett, aged eight and 10, set up an online fundraising page and quickly beat their £100 target.

The money will help the school repair the bus and lift it by crane into a more secure courtyard.

Zain said he and his brother felt "petrified" after hearing vandals had struck and were "worried they might come back", but they were still excited about the library plans for the bus.

"It'll be cool because it'll feel like you're actually in a bus reading a book," said Zain.

The bus was donated by a local company and the school planned to turn it into a library

Head teacher Liz Bartholomew said: "We're so proud of [Zach and Zain]. When we heard what they'd done we were absolutely amazed and, to be honest, even more amazed by how the community has rallied together.

"We have completely blown the [boys'] target by 10 times."

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Parts of the playground were also vandalised and there was damage to the wall of a classroom containing asbestos.

The school said it still needs to raise "several thousand pounds" but it hopes the bus will be up and running as a library "soon".

Essex Police said an investigation was ongoing and appealed to any witnesses to contact the force.