Theft link in probe on arson-hit schools

Arsonists suspected of setting fire to two Black Country schools, destroying one in Bilston, may have broken into another before the attacks, police said today.

Flammable polish was stolen from sheds at Ocker Hill Infant School, in Tipton, after 6pm on Monday.

Police said they were investigating possible links between the theft and two fires the on the same night that saw Bilston's Wilkinson Primary School destroyed.

Parts of the old Willingsworth High School, on the site of the £35 million RSA Academy in Tipton, just streets away from Ocker Hill, were also set on fire.

Police are investigating the possibility the polish could have been used in the fires.

Det Insp Wayne Jones, who is overseeing investigations into both fires, said: "We can't say for sure that it has been used in the fires but we are investigating."

Demolition work at Wilkinson Primary is expected to start tomorrow. It is expected to take a year to rebuild and temporary classrooms are being set up at Bilston's St Martin's Church so pupils can return to lessons on November 1.