BURGLARS are costing Runcorn schools thousands of pounds so that computer players can enjoy bigger pictures.

Raiders steal expensive school projectors and sell them on so people can project Playstation and X-box screens on to walls.

Burglars stole three data projectors worth £3,500 from The Brow Community Primary School last Tuesday.

Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School had three projectors stolen on Saturday afternoon.

Head teacher Linda Mellor, said: "Children and staff are very disappointed, as the projectors were only three months old and were used with whiteboards for interactive work.

"Including damage, the cost of the break-in is between £4,000 and £5,000."

Halton police ran an operation to watch out for projector raids in the summer and are investigating the latest break-ins.

And laptops and projectors worth thousands were stolen from St Chad's Catholic School last Saturday - and five projectors were stolen around two months ago.

Attack

Deputy Head Andy Keeley said the pupils feel the raids are an attack on them.

He added: "It really affects the day-to-day running of the school when the lap tops are stolen. And it causes so much damage when they break in.

"They know where to look, it's organised."

Mr Keeley said vandalism has been cut by increased security measures but new and better cameras and doors are needed to stop these break-ins.

"It's a shame because you are spending money on security that you want to spend on education," he said.