Children from Hawley School in Camden Town before the signs were stolen

CHRISTMAS crooks have “disgusted” primary schoolchildren with two night-time raids on road safety signs, writes Tom Foot.

Hawley School pupils had helped design the cartoon-style signs that were put up to try and “prevent a terrible tragedy” at a danger crossing in Castlehaven Road, Camden Town.

CCTV shows thieves brazenly stealing one of the signs two weeks ago – before taking the second one on Sunday.

Admin officer Sharlene Hamilton said: “We can’t understand it really as they have no use for it. The first one we had on CCTV and to be honest they just look like two regular people. They come around 11pm, unscrew it the base, which is really heavy, and just walk off with it.

“The one Sunday just gone, I came into work to see it is missing and checked the CCTV. You could see two guys walking past and unscrewing it. Then they do a sort of photo shoot, taking photos of them holding the sign.”

The school has put a message out to parents about the 3 x 2 ft signs, made out of metal alloy and costing school £185, suggesting they may have been stolen “for no other reasons other than entertainment”.

Ms Hamilton said the council had been approached for help after parents and teachers reported several “near misses” at the crossing outside the school.

“We notice that cars come speeding round the corner and they seem to speed up if the lights are green ahead of them,”
Ms Hamilton said.

“We are trying to prevent a terrible tragedy from happening. It was road safety week and we did an unveiling, but now the  children are really disgusted.”

The school has appealed for anyone who knows where the signs are to let them know to return them.