A SCHOOL PTA member took all of the money raised from its charity events, leaving nothing for much needed equipment and school trips.

A letter to parents on the website of Whittington CE Primary School in Worcester said they had discovered the money was missing and had referred the matter to police.

A spokesman for the PTA said: "We can confirm that a serious incident took place at the end of the last academic year, which was immediately referred to the local police to investigate.

"A previous member of the PTA, took, without consent or the knowledge of any other member, monies raised from all of the fundraising events during the last academic year.

READ MORE: Behind-schedule M5 work to be completed next month

"This was devastating for the school and the PTA as this money is used to fund much needed equipment, trips and much more. We can confirm that a process is in place for the monies to be reimbursed to the PTA and procedures have been put in place to ensure that this does not happen again."

The letter said: "Unfortunately, we were not able to communicate this to you before now due to an ongoing Police investigation. However, please be assured that it is being dealt with in the correct manner and a process is in place for the monies to be paid back to the PTA.”

The letter does not mention who stole the money, or when the school discovered it was missing. It also goes on to mention the extra events put on by the PTA to try to recoup some of the lost money.

It said: “You may have noticed the introduction of some new PTA activities and this has been the catalyst to help us make as much money for the school as possible. With thanks for your help, we were able to fund the Christmas Pantomime, without which this would not have been possible so thank you."