Sheffield nursery forced to raise funds for security cameras after a series of break-ins

Appletree Childcare in Grenoside said the nursery has been the victim of ongoing vandalism for many years and it has worsened since the last summer.

Burglaries have also become common, with the latest being two weeks ago when toys were stolen from the nursery and the latest incident of vandalism took place over the weekend.

Appletree Childcare Chief Executive Janet Perkin said: "We have had a lot of vandalism over the years but we have a notable increase of late.

"I believe those who are responsible are the youths, unfortunately. It's so sad that many of them will have come here because we have been here for so long.

"The last break-in was two weeks ago. We came in and the toys were gone. We then discovered them smashed at the park.

"And the staff came in today before we opened and saw broken glass at the outdoor play area from bottles that were thrown. We believe it happened over the weekend."

She said previous incidents had forced the nursery to have their window replaced as bricks were thrown over the fence and broke it.

And these unfortunate incidents have significantly impacted their finances.

"It obviously impacts our insurance because the broken windows, stolen toys, we can't make insurance claims because they are considered minor.

"But it still costs us and we are already struggling with finances because the government doesn't recognise childcare unfortunately."

Those who would like to donate can go to their Go Fund Me page here.