THIEVES have stolen £5,000 of heating oil from Heart of the Forest Community Special School – which could mean pupils lose out.

Oil from two tanks was siphoned after the school grounds were entered sometime last week.

Headteacher Melissa Bradshaw said unless the school can claim the money back through insurance, the school would have to cut the amount it spends on its pupils to cover the cost.

The thieves struck just as the Forest was hit by sub-zero temperatures and snow flurries.

The headteacher said: "We are not exactly rolling in money and what it will cost to replace the fuel would have been spent on the children."