POLICE in Greater Manchester were investigating the hacking of the website of St Luke’s C of E Primary School, Heywood, after its home page was replaced by an image that claimed to come from Islamic State (IS) on Wednesday of last week. The original was replaced later the same day.

The director of children’s services at Rochdale Borough Council, Gail Hopper, called on the public for information that would help the investigation. “It is possible that this act of vandalism was a prank. But one that is cruel and irresponsible,” she said. She confirmed that only the public face of the website had been defaced, and no pupil data had been compromised.

A police statement said that there was no reason to believe that the incident involved terrorists.