A caretaker dressed as the Grinch has been "arrested" by police - in a stunt to give nursery kids ''closure'' after a break-in.

Kids were gutted when a real life burglar gained entry to Ivy in the Park nursery in Carntyne in Scotland on December 8.

They fled with an iPad and causing extensive damage to the doors of the nursery.

Operations Director Annefrances McGrath, and husband and nursery janitor Paul, came up with a plan - and told the children the Grinch had caused the damage.

Days later, Paul dressed up as the iconic character and "broke in" to the nursery again - where the children were ready to catch him in a giant net.

After apprehending their suspect, a community police officer appeared to handcuff the Grinch and take him away - but not before the children took the character's bag, which was filled with chocolate donated by local police.

"After the break-in, there was substantial damage to the nursery caused by him gaining entry through glass doors, so we contacted glazers and joiners and stayed there late into the night to return things to as normal as possible so the children wouldn’t have any idea that it had happened," said Annefrances.

"What we didn’t realise was that the glass on the fire exit door was specialist glass, so it had to go on order.

"The children came in the next day and were a bit shocked – the nursery is their safe space.

"On the spot, I said “I wonder if the Grinch has come to the nursery and been really naughty.

"That’s where the story came from – it was about saving the children from the trauma of thinking a ‘bad man’ had been in their nursery.

"There was lots of chats about if he would come back, and I thought we needed some closure for the children.

"We came up with the idea to let the children "arrest" the Grinch – and take all of his chocolate from him.

"The chocolate was very kindly donated by the community police officers, and one officer was able to come and actually ‘arrest’ him and put him in the van.

"The kids were so excited – they caught him in a net in the back garden.

"There was lots of cheering and high fives when he went in the van – although I’m not sure the janitor was cheering!"

Annefrances says the local police were happy to help - and says it was important for her team to make sure the children could keep the nursery as their safe space.

"The community police officer, Declan, was really on board from the start," said Annefrances.

"He was so happy to be able to support us getting some closure from the children.

"We all wanted them to know that their nursery was safe before they went on their Christmas break.

"The most important thing to us is that the kids know that we’re here for them, and that if there is a problem, we can help, no matter how big it seems to them."