Thieves steal school bus parts night before trip (From Times Series)

Thieves steal bus parts at Dollis Junior School in Mill Hill on night before trip

6:45pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in News By Chris Hewett

Children in Mill Hill were left stranded after thieves vandalised their school minibuses.

CCTV footage showed two men entering the grounds of Dollis Junior School, in Pursley Road, at 9.30pm yesterday, before carefully removing catalytic converters from the exhausts of the Ford Transits.

Staff and children only realised the vehicles had been tampered with as they waited to board them for an outing this morning (Wednesday).

Headteacher Colin Dowland hit out at the criminals who stole the car parts, which are often sold for scrap metal, and said he believed they could have put the lives of children at risk.

He said: “It was unbelievable. We had the children all ready to go, but when the minibuses were started up they sounded like tanks.

“The sabotage to the buses could have endangered the lives of our pupils, had we not realised there was a problem.

“They had clearly been cleanly and professionally removed – we are just completely shocked, we weren’t even aware this crime existed.”

Around 30 pupils, aged seven to ten, were due to travel to one of Dollis Junior’s "link" schools in Acton.

Teachers were forced to contact Barnet Council to hire two replacement buses at a cost of £60 each and the delay meant pupils missed half of the trip.

Parent Michael Goodyear, who had volunteered to drive, described the thieves as “thoughtless” for targeting the school buses.

He said: “It was quite a big thing the kids could’ve missed out on, but these people don’t care. They wouldn’t care if it was an ambulance.”

Mr Dowland will now have to arrange for the stricken vehicles to be towed to a garage and said he was waiting to hear if the school could claim for the replacements on its insurance.

He said: “It is going to be a cost to the school and it is ultimately the children who will suffer with the minibuses being out of action.

“We parked them in a place where we thought they were least likely to be targeted. I just want other schools to be aware this is happening so they can be careful.”