Stolen lead damage closes St Monica's school in Cardiff

A primary school in Cardiff has been forced to close for a week after lead was stolen from its roof.

St Monica's Church in Wales school, in Cathays, had to send its 100 pupils home before lunchtime on Monday, after water damaged its ceilings, lights and electrical sockets.

South Wales Police said it was investigating the theft, and estimated there was about £5,000 worth of damage.

The school's head teacher Abigail Beacon said it was "very dangerous".

"The thing that's most upsetting really is that we've had to take all of the children's work down, their displays, it's damaged books and book cases, she told BBC Radio Wales' Jason Mohammad programme.

"We had water running through the ceilings, we had it running through the sockets, through all the light fittings and we had a lot of standing water. It was a very dangerous situation."

Insp Lyndon Jones from Cathays police station said: "Sadly there are thieves out there who will target schools during school holidays when they know they are empty but fortunately these are not regular occurrences here in Cardiff."