CURIOSITY has saved a school from being engulfed by flames.

A woman looking out of the window of her home at fire engines arriving to put out a house fire in the street, spotted smoke billowing from the nearby comprehensive school.

The firefighters were at Bishopsgarth School, at Stockton, Teesside, a minute later and were able to put out the flames before the fire could take hold.

A corridor carpet was badly damaged by the fire, and a computer suite and open plan area affected by smoke.

Station Officer Alan Powells said: "Someone heard the sirens, looked out of a window and noticed smoke coming from the school.

"The fire was not at the front of the school, but at the side, where it would have been more difficult to spot. The fact that it was picked up so quickly limited the damage."

The arsonists had broken into the school, which is on Harrowgate Lane. The cause of the fire at the house in adjacent Marske Lane - the home of a severely disabled man - was also said to be malicious.

The extractor fan in the kitchen window had been stuffed with take-away food cartons, which had then been set alight and the fire had spread into the kitchen.

Simon Barr and his partner, Pamela Hutton, put out the fire after dousing the fan with beakers of cold water.

They had been out for the evening and had only just returned home when they discovered the fire