Pupils turned detectives following a break-in at a Romford primary school on Monday.

The 300 pupils of Squirrels Heath Infant School arrived at their school, in Salisbury Road, and discovered snowy footsteps in the playground.

A section of the school grounds had been cornered off and the youngsters spotted piles of hay, carrots and little brown droppings.

The footsteps led pupils to the school hall where 10 presents had been left under a Christmas tree, one for each class.

Headteacher, Julie White, called an emergency assembly and asked if anyone knew who had broken into the school.

She the told them she had received an email from the North Pole, which read: “As you have all been working so hard and most of you are on the Nice List I decided to plan an early visit to your school.

“My friends and I had a great time in your school and hope that the sleigh did not damage your playground when it crash landed. It was a bit dark and this was a test run for Christmas Eve.”

Reception pupil, Katelyn, said: “The sleigh crashed down into our big playground, the reindeers knocked down our bin.

“When Santa Claus climbed out he left footprints in our school. He is little bit messy and silly because he left his reindeers’ carrots everywhere!”

Alfie, in Year 2, said the whole thing was “a miracle” after he and his fellow pupils were shown a video of Santa and the Elves tiptoeing through the school.