A PRESTWICH school hit by vandals at the start of the summer break has won its race against time to repair the damage.

A brand new wildlife and picnic area at St Margaret 's Primary in Heywood Road was targeted just 24-hours after pupils finished for the holidays in July.

Vandals went on the rampage, trashing the new benches and destroying a perimeter fence. But a band of willing volunteers has rallied together to rebuild the area, making it even better than before.

Headteacher Kath Perry discovered the shocking damage the day after lessons ended as she went to proudly show off the area to her parents.

What made the vandalism even more upsetting for Mrs Perry was the fact that the project had been completed just a few weeks before with the help of parents and volunteers.

At the time, Mrs Perry and parent Mr Ian Keiller vowed to recreate the haven for when the pupils returned to school at the start of September.

The pair are delighted to have achieved their aim and the youngsters are back enjoying their packed lunches al fresco.

Mrs Perry said: "This was felt so keenly by everybody that we had plenty of volunteers to help recreate the picnic area. Led by Mr Keiller, there was the usual group of volunteers, some children and parents. We also had some people who had no connection to the school who came along to lend a hand. "

Mrs Perry said the area was now "better than ever " with the benches back in place and the path leading from the playground to the woodland completely re-barked.

She paid tribute to everyone who helped with the project and added: "This incident was very upsetting but we are not going to be deterred. For the good of the children we will continue to develop the school and we have got plans to do more in the woodland area. The volunteers have been absolutely wonderful and they made it very pleasant considering that we had done the job once already. "