Computer thieves broke into Oxford Brookes University and stole equipment worth up to #100,000.

They smashed a ground floor window to gain access to the university's computer block at the Gipsy Lane campus in Headington.

Staff arrived to find valuable computer boards pulled from their bases and removed.

Thieves had evaded extensive alarm systems to gain access to the equipment and the incident has forced the university to tighten security.

Brookes spokesman Gill Sanders said the thieves had failed to penetrate the main computer room.

She said: The key thing is that the equipment they took did not contain information and security has been stepped up. There is no free access to this area.

"There would have been a small number of students here at that time in the morning so there's a possibility someone may have heard or seen something."

The burglary follows similar raids on university computer departments across the country and Oxford police are contacting other forces to see if there is a link.

Police are appealing for anyone in the Headington area on Wednesday morning who may have heard or seen anything to come forward.