A FORMER East Durham school has been badly damaged in an early morning blaze.
Appliances from Peterlee and Seaham attended the fire at the disused Easington Colliery Infants School, in Seaside Lane, on Tuesday.
The two-storey building has not been in use since children were moved into a new purpose-built school in June 1998.
The Victorian-style premises were sold last summer by Durham County Council and have stood empty since.
Peterlee police said the building has been repeatedly broken into and is the constant target of vandals. It had been a smoke alarm which had first alerted the fire brigade.
When firefighters, in three tenders, arrived at the scene they found the blaze contained to downstairs classrooms with the rest of the building badly smoke logged.
Police are treating the fire as suspicious and anyone with any information should contact Peterlee police station on (0191) 5862621
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