A pre-school has made a desperate appeal for help after all of the items for its Christmas bazaar were accidentally thrown out.

Staff at Hainford Pre-School went to find the decorations, books and clothes ahead of the annual fundraiser, but discovered they were no longer there.

The items had been mistakenly thrown away from their village hall storage and now the pre-school faces a race against time to try to make the day Christmassy for the youngsters.

Mags Sherman, pre-school chairman, said: 'We went to the cupboard to get the stuff out and it was all gone. We now have no Christmas stuff whatsoever.'

Mrs Sherman said she did not know exactly what happened but thought they got mixed up with items no longer needed by the pre-school.

She added: 'All we know is that the things were disposed of. It's just one of those things that happens.'

Among the items lost are decorations for a Santa's grotto, a nativity scene, dressing up clothes and books.

The pre-school, which is based at the village hall, has launched a campaign for donations ahead of its Christmas bazaar on Saturday, December 3 to help make it as festive as possible.

Mrs Sherman said: 'Most upsetting is the loss of the books for the children. They are important, especially at this age, as they can be great for literacy.

'We hope we get lots of contributions of decorations, but it is the books and dressing up clothes we miss the most.'

Mrs Sherman said they could not afford to replace everything and that they relied on the bazaar as one of their biggest fundraisers.

She said the morning pre-school, which has existed for 30 years, faced a constant battle for funding, and that this event helped as it is attended by many people in the village.

The bazaar is on Saturday, December 3 from 11am to 2pm.

If you can help at all contact Mrs Sherman on 01603 893539/07771 871413 or Amy Marchant on 01603 279949/07824 662933. Alternatively visit the pre-school at the village hall from 9.30am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Is your school holding an event for Christmas? Contact Local Life editor Richard Wood on 01603 772423 or email richard.wood@archant.co.uk