Severe fire hits secondary school

The fire destroyed about half of the building

A fire has caused severe damage at a West Midlands secondary school.

Up to 75 firefighters in 15 engines were involved in tackling the blaze at Lighthall School in Shirley, Solihull, for several hours.

The school was closed on Monday and teachers confirmed pupils are expected to return in a week's time.

The blaze started in a canteen and classroom block, which has been extensively damaged, but important GCSE coursework was saved by firefighters.

West Midlands Fire Service said it was a serious fire and at one point firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had to be called away from the blaze.

A fire investigation team went to the scene to try to determine the cause of the fire.

Assistant chief fire officer Robert Hulland said: "Unfortunately we end up with school fires in the West Midlands approximately one every five to six days.

"The fire service has been campaigning for many years now for all school buildings to be properly fitted with sprinklers.

"A sprinkler system would have avoided this fire from occurring. It would have been a small fire rather than losing approximately half the building itself."