Staff at a Cradley Heath nursery were left reeling this morning after vandals broke in overnight and set fire to a shed in their garden.

Little Explorers Day Nursery on St Annes Road was targeted in the early hours of Thursday morning, when suspects accessed the property and set the structure ablaze before returning to their vehicle and driving away.

The 'mindless' act of vandalism has been condemned by owner, Kelly Shaw, who says she can't understand the mentality of anyone who'd want to break into a nursery, let alone cause extensive damage for no obvious gain.

"We're all absolutely gutted by last nights attack on our nursery and are so grateful for the quick response by neighbours and the fire service. The fire spread so quickly that the nursery would have been completely destroyed if not for them" Kelly said.

She added: "The police are treating this as arson and we have CCTV recordings of at least two males, driving a silver convertible between 1am-2am in the morning. They parked on the nursery car park and speed off after the attack towards Cradley Heath".

Whilst the damage is confined to the garden itself, areas of the building that children were enjoying in the Summer weather will have to remain closed for the rest of the week. A number of toys and activities have also been damaged in the blaze. 

Anyone wishing to donate can visit the JustGiving page set up to raise £500 or if you have any information is asked to contact West Midlands Police on 101.