IT WAS billed as their biggest day of the year, only for raiders to make a despicable bid to ruin it.

Burglars stole a huge stock of food and drink from Shirley Warren Primary and Nursery School in Southampton just hours before the pupils' summer fete.

The June break-in left the youngsters' fundraising plans in tatters and their goods for the stalls, raffle and tombola in the raiders' hands.

Teachers and parents made an emergency appeal to rally the community and rescue the event, and donations flooded in.

Yesterday their achievements were recognised by the children's cancer and leukaemia charity CLIC, which received half the funds collected from the fete.

The organisation presented a "certificate of thanks" to the children for raising £500 for their cause.

School deputy head Lynne Sproson said: "The pupils had brought in all their home-made cakes and drinks for the bottles stand and they were all put in the kitchen.

"The night before the fete we had a break-in and lots of the goods that would have been sold to raise funds were taken.

"They made a real mess of the kitchen.

"We got on the phone the next morning and the community rallied round to make the fete a bigger success than it would have been."

Mrs Sproson said Asda donated a bike for the raffle, other supermarkets and shops gave goodies and a local baker gave a huge tray of cream cakes.

"It was smashing that everyone came together," she said.

The presentation of the certificate from CLIC, at Allders in Winchester Road, which is also supporting the charity, is the second piece of good news for the school within a week.

Last Thursday the Daily Echo revealed that the school, which has 260 pupils aged three to 11, made the most dramatic improvement in the city, boosting exam performance by 151 per cent in four years.