SHOCKED staff and governors have spoken of their disbelief after fire tore through six classrooms at Horsforth School during the early hours of Sunday morning.

Four portable classrooms on the Lee Lane East site were completely destroyed and two others were gutted during the devastating fire, which was so intense that windows in the main school building, more than 50 yards away, were cracked and paintwork bubbled.

Police say they are not treating the cause of the fire as suspicious.

Francine Morris, Horsforth School press spokeswoman, said that everyone in the school was shocked - but added that staff were determined that that the fire would not get in the way of pupils' education.

She said: "First thing on Monday morning we made sure that all pupils were put in alternative accommodation.

"We are not going to make a crisis out of it and, as a flagship school, we'll be working with the education department to keep disruption to a minimum. The buildings may be gutted but we are determined that life will go on as usual."

Ms Morris added that it was unclear how much of pupils' work had been lost, but stressed that if work had been lost, there would be no problems sorting it out with the various examination boards.

Chairman of governors John Brodwell said that the fire had been devastating. "It was a terrible shock to us. At the moment the head teacher Steve Jex and the staff are doing all they can to ensure that pupils'

education is not disrupted."

Mr Brodwell added that new classrooms would be needed as a matter of urgency and that the school would be discussing its needs with Leeds City Council.

Fellow governor Chris Townsley also praised the efforts of the staff.

"It is a real tragedy and has created a lot of turmoil which the staff have coped superbly with so far," he added.

About 45 firefighters and 12 appliances attended the fire, at about 4.30am on Sunday morning.

The alarm was raised when someone spotted smoke on the site.

Firefighters braved the heat and placed themselves between the burning classroom blocks and the main school, using jets to stop the fire spreading to the main school.