THIEVES have been condemned for stealing from children on Teesside.

Playtime at the Grangetown Children's Centre has been ruined after a heavy wooden playhouse and a wooden boat were stolen, shortly after they were installed.

The equipment was put in place last Thursday and was stolen over the weekend after scores of youngsters had the chance to enjoy the play equipment for one day.

Catherine Pickering, manager of the centre at Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, said: "What can you say about a theft like this - it's stealing from children.

"The two pieces cost £2,204, and we only paid the bill last week. There's no more money left in our budget to replace them."

Centre staff discovered the theft on their arrival at work yesterday. All thieves left the 690 children using the centre were two oars from the boat, which is unlikely to be replaced. Mrs Pickering said the risk of a repeat theft is too great.

She said: "We'd have to think about whether we would take the risk again. It must have been a difficult job to lift them - the boat was sunk into the ground and the chalet house must have weighed half a ton.

"The children had a lovely time playing on Friday. The pieces support the Every Child Matters agenda for imaginative play. Now all we've got left are the oars from the boat, which were stored inside the centre.

"It is really disappointing, because the children won't get the opportunity to play on that kind of equipment. They only played on it once.''

She added: "They will no doubt turn up at a car boot sale somewhere. I would think because of the weight - the playhouse is very heavy the thieves must have used mechanical lifting equipment. We cannot afford to replace it.''

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's lead member for children's services, Councillor Valerie Halton, who officially opened the centre last year, said: "To call this a heartless crime is an understatement. Everyone is extremely upset that thieves could do such a thing, stealing from children who have nothing like this in the first place."

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: "This was a particularly cruel theft and we would ask anyone with information about it, to please get in touch with us.''

Cleveland Police can be contacted on (01642) 326326.