A man will appear in court today accused of being involved in a £250,000 school raid.

Jason Hardcastle, of Withy Mead in Chingford, will appear via prison video link at Wood Green Crown Court this morning charged with burglary and receiving stolen goods.

The 27-year-old is due to enter a plea.

Burglars broke into Hillyfield Academy, in Higham Hill Road, Walthamstow, over two nights on December 27 and 28.

The retail value of the 700 iPads and 25 iMacs stolen is estimated at £250,000, and none of the stolen property has been recovered, police say. 

Staff at the school did not discover the break-in until the caretaker returned to work four days after the burglary in early January.

Police were called to the scene at 5:30am on January 2 and established that the alarm system had been deactivated before thieves forced entry to the building.