Equipment hunt to help Bilston's Wilkinson Primary School

Education bosses in Wolverhampton were today scouring the city for spare furniture to set up temporary classrooms for pupils after a school was destroyed in an arson attack.

It comes as devastated staff revealed that the blaze at Bilston's Wilkinson Primary School has wiped out more than £690,000 of improvements made over the past 10 years.

The Walter Road school, which was built in 1973, has been left a charred shell after the inferno. A total of 15 fire crews were called to the burning school at 9.45pm on Monday.

The fire came less than three hours after disused buildings on Tipton's RSA Academy site, less than half a mile away, were set on fire.

The Bilston school's 335 pupils have been sent home and will not return to lessons until November 1.

Preparations were today under way to set up portable classrooms at nearby St Martin's Church Centre in Slater Street as pupils, teachers and parents came to terms with the school being destroyed.

The school was given new classrooms in 2000 and 2002 at a cost of £640,000 and another £50,000 was recently spent extending the hall.

The church that will become Wilkinson Primary School's temporary home was used by St Martin's School until a larger premises were opened in 1965.

Portable cabins will be placed on the former playground there and others will go on the car park of the fire-hit school if education chiefs are given the go-ahead.

Dawn Raistrick, chairman of the parent-teachers association, said: "We will all rally round and help get the school back up and running again as soon as possible."

Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said: "The people of Bradley are strong and will recover from this."