“To do this to a special needs school, it just beggars belief.”

Staff at a Merseyside school were left “devastated” when they realised its grounds had been broken into, trashed and vandalised. Natalie Drury, from Rowan Park, a special needs school in Litherland, arrived at work this morning, Wednesday, August 21, when she saw the fence had been ripped apart.

Following this, the 36-year-old from Maghull quickly realised parts of the school's new fully accessible park had been taken. The school and the local community had been fundraising for the park for over the last year.

It included a rebound trampoline which all of Rowan Park pupils could enjoy regardless of their disabilities - however, this may not be the case now as the school prepares to welcome pupils back on September 2.

Natalie, the school’s family liaison officer and chair of the Friends of the Rowan Park School charity, told the ECHO: “We’ve worked so hard for it so it's really devastating. We’ve held multiple fundraising events and we finally hit the amount we needed.

“We were getting it all fitted during the summer holidays, so we didn’t tell anyone about it so it would be a surprise for the pupils coming back. The material needed for the trampoline is gone and a lot of the staff have come in today to look for it, but it’s nowhere to be seen. We looked at the golf course across the road, in the bushes, across the fields and down the bridge but it’s nowhere to be found.”

Natalie said whoever was behind the act was there just to cause havoc as the material alone cannot be used without the rest of the equipment. She said: “It cost us around £700 for the material. But they also trashed the play area. They took everything out of the skip and threw it about.

“The community has done so much so it's devastating for us all. A lot of our children can’t access a park, and they can’t join in and be included, so for our hard work to be ruined this way is horrible. We’ve been robbed not just of our things but of our spirit.”

The incident has been reported to Merseyside Police. The Liverpool ECHO contacted the force for a comment.

Natalie added: “To do this to a special needs school, it just beggars belief.” The school's original GoFundMe for the adventure park can be donated to here.