"Devastating" break-in at nursery near Whitby

Polly Jefferson, 27, started Country Rascals Nursery three and a half years ago.

When she unlocked the nursery with her colleague Jessica Kelly, 22, on Monday November 18, she instantly knew something was wrong.

Polly said: “We arrived at the nursery in the morning to open up as usual and we could see there was a problem at the side of the building, but we didn’t know what it was.”

Polly and Jessica quickly realised that the premises had been burgled. There was a broken window in the office and a cash box had been taken from the filing cabinet.

The burglars had also knocked a hole in the baby room wall causing plans to lay new flooring to be delayed.

“We can’t go forward with the floor plans until the hole has been properly rectified,” said Polly.

Nursery employee Demi-leigh Clark, 25, said: “We had planned in summer to renovate the baby room to make it more relaxing and comfortable for them.”

To help Polly, Demi-leigh started a GoFundMe appeal to replace the lost money and to help with the repairs. “The side wall had been broken into and I felt so sorry for Polly, it’s a small business and she’s a young girl trying to make it work.”

Demi-leigh, clearly outraged by the break-in said: “It’s awful to target a children’s nursery. I think it’s very cruel to do it somewhere that children go to learn.”

Polly said that the plans to revamp the room would continue, but may take a little longer than had been previously anticipated due to the loss of funds.

If you would like to help, the GoFundMe page may be found by clicking here.