Thieves with guilty conscience return technicolour coat to Derbyshire school

The colourful garment was stolen from a scarecrow at Scargill Primary School in West Hallam over the weekend.

On the back of a media appeal, the coat was given back to the school yesterday.

Headteacher Andrew Pull said it was 'unceremoniously' thrown over the school fence and was now 'safely inside'.

Its return means a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat will now go ahead as planned at the school tomorrow.

Mr Pull previously said 'a lot of people were left very upset' by the theft.

He added: "The thieves scaled the school fence and took our scarecrow, which was part of an annual festival, and, more importantly, the coat.

"So much hard work went into making it – each pupil put in about a day’s work on each on their own bit of material that they sewed into an intricate pattern.

"One of our teaching assistants then spent around two days sewing it into a coat.

"All their hard work was taken and that's the most heartbreaking thing for everyone."

Mr Pull said many people 'kept their eyes peeled' for the coat and a neighbourhood police officer had been informed.

Commenting on Facebook, Louise Trueman said: "Each patch had a design on them that all year fives had chosen and individuals hand sewed them on. Lots of hard work and time went in to this coat."