Saboteur plants nails in grass verges near a primary school

Horrified parents have warned their children could be 'severely injured' by a saboteur who is planting nails and screws near a primary school to stop people parking there during school runs.

'Multiple' complaints have been made about flat tyres caused when pulling up outside Creeting St Mary Church of England Primary School in Suffolk at drop-off and pick-up times.

The makeshift boobytraps are buried sharp-side-up on street-level grass verges alongside the narrow road which parents drive on to, to try and leave enough space for other traffic to pass.

They fear children and pets would be hurt by the 'selfish actions' of the vandal or vandals behind the 'unhinged' campaign, which is being investigated by police.

Inci Kara, 40, who has a child at the school, said: 'The nails are positioned upwards deliberately because they don't want us to park here and that is worrying.'I know a lady who last year had to change four of her tyres because of this but now it is happening again.'

Another parent, Stephanie Wilson, 41, told the BBC: 'Multiple parents have said they have had their tyres flattened but my main concern is if a child that is walking home falls and lands on them or a dog walks on them.'

The school, which is rated 'good' by Ofsted, has around 100 pupils aged five to 11, some of whom walk or cycle there from their homes.

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But one of its teaching assistants, Amy Banthorpe, 32, warned that healthy activity was being threatened by the risk from sharp objects hidden on the route.

'It's slightly unhinged really that someone is doing this and our biggest concern really is that a child is going to get severely injured,' she said.

'It's horrendous and quite shocking to us all and seems people have not thought through the potential risks - a tyre could blow out and it could be catastrophic.'

Local Rick Keating, 69, said sabotaging cars and putting children at risk was not the answer to congestion in school hours.

'Parents are parking up and down the street and it's a hassle in the mornings when school is opening and a hassle in the afternoon when school is out,' he added.

'But there is no place to park, basically, so there's really no way round it.'

The village's parish council clerk, Jennie Blackburn, confirmed the nails and screws appeared to have been placed 'deliberately'.

She said: 'As soon as they're picked up, more are found in the day or two afterwards.

'Last week... the school contacted me and said another nine nails had been found on the verge and the heads had been pushed into the ground, so the nail was pointing upwards.

'This has arisen from parking issue in the village - the same as many rural schools, that parking is an issue. The council has been trying to find land to help with parking.'

Suffolk Police confirmed they had received reports of attempted criminal damage and criminal damage, with the most recent on September 17.

'The report was that nails or screws had been placed in the upwards direction along All Saints Road, near to the primary school,' a spokesman said.

'A similar report was received in the same area in May, which damaged two car tyres, while another report has also been received of damage of vehicle tyres (one vehicle) on four occasions between January and May of this year.'

'No arrests have been made and the investigation is 'ongoing'.