A SECONDARY school was forced to close today after vandals smashed 150 windows in a wrecking spree.

Five hundred pupils were sent home from George Tomlinson School at Kearsley after attackers broke into the school overnight smashing windows and roof lights in an orgy of vandalism.

And today, as he surveyed the damage, which left corridors and classrooms strewn with shards of glass and waterlogged after heavy rain overnight, headmaster Tony Buckley said: "I feel devastated."

Detectives are investigating the attack which is thought to have been carried out over a lengthy period of time.

Today only pupils who were due to sit GCSE examinations were allowed into the school.

Mr Buckley stood at the school gates turning away the rest of his pupils believing it would have been too dangerous to teach them amid the broken glass.

The raiders are believed to have used sharp instruments and possibly bricks to shatter the windows which are all over the Springfield Road school, including dozens of roof lights which shattered into hundreds of pieces. Even specialist safety windows were smashed. The repair bill is expected to be more than £5,000. The school alarm was triggered at 10.15pm last night, but it is possible the windows could have been smashed earlier over the weekend without causing the alarm to go off.

Nothing, at this stage, is thought to have been stolen.

The only youngsters allowed into school today were Year 11 pupils who were due to sit an English Literature GCSE exam.

Most pupils arriving at school used their mobile telephones to contact their parents to inform them they would be returning home.

Emergency repairs were being carried out this morning and even with boarded-up windows, school chiefs were hoping to reopen tomorrow.

The attack comes only weeks after raiders escaped with more than £16,000 worth of computer equipment.

Mr Buckley said: "I feel devastated to see the school in this state. The destruction is mindless. It would have taken some time to smash so many windows.

"I'm sure that if my pupils know who is responsible they will let us know because they don't want to see their school looking like this.

"If it is a current pupil who is the culprit, we will bring down the full weight of the school punishment system which could lead to permanent exclusion."

History teacher Linda Sinfield, whose classroom was covered in glass, said: "It's heartbreaking that this should happen at a time of a year when exams are looming.

"I'm convinced that by the way pupils are reacting somebody will say something if they know who is responsible."

Mother Elaine Massey, from Farnworth, said she felt sorry for the pupils, the school and the staff.

Her daughter Michelle, aged 13, a Year Nine pupil, was turned away from the gates this morning.

Mrs Massey said: "The school is really suffering from these vandals and the children's education is badly affected. It is not safe for the children. These vandals should be hung drawn and quartered but they will probably just catch them and let them go."

"It is absolutely ridiculous. Pupils' parents could have already gone to work so they could be going home to an empty house."

Another parent Pauline Snape of Springfield Road, Kearsley, said: "The vandalism has been going on for a few weeks now. The school needs fencing off because kids go round there every weekend causing trouble."

A police spokesman said: "We are investigating the vandalism."