ARSONISTS may be responsible for a fire which swept through a North-East school causing massive damage.

A police investigation is under way after the blaze at Hardwick Primary School, in Sedgefield, yesterday morning.

Half the school was destroyed by the fire, which ripped through six classrooms and the toilets in the junior school block.

The school, in Hawthorn Road, could be closed for months, leaving the local education authority, Durham County Council, with the headache of trying to relocate more than 170 pupils.

Fire and police investigators spent much of yesterday at the school and will return to the scene today.

The exact cause of the blaze is still unknown, but arson has not been ruled out.

Detective Sergeant Alan Watson, of Newton Aycliffe CID, said police are keeping an open mind over the fire.

"We haven't got evidence to make it suspicious, but we will not really know what caused it until we can get inside the school," he said.

"A joint investigation between the police and the fire brigade is under way."

At the height of the blaze, there were six fire appliances and more than 30 firefighters at the scene.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Brigade divisional officer Ian Dockerty said: "The crews did a good job to stop the fire spreading to the rest of the building and we are not ruled out the possibility that it is suspicious."

A spokesman for Durham County Council said: "Sadly, the school will be closed for the foreseeable future."

The authority is drawing up plans to relocate the pupils, but asked parents to be patient.

"As soon as we are in a position to let them know, we will," added the spokesman.

If the fire turns out to be arson, it will be the second attack on a school in the area in the last three years.

In December 1997, a staff room at Rosebank Special School, in Ferryhill, was destroyed.

The Northern Echo revealed last year that the cost of repairing the damage caused by school arsonists in the region could build two new schools every year.

Nationally, three schools a day are set on fire and according to national statistics, the North-East has the worst record in the country.

Newton Aycliffe CID can be contacted on (01325) 314401. Parents of the children at the school should telephone Durham County Council on 0191-386 4411 if they have any queries.