COLLEGE bosses in Blackpool are today (Thursday) planning how to keep courses on track after a major fire at Ansdell on Tuesday.

Fire swept through Blackpool & The Fylde College's three-storey hair and beauty campus on Church Road, just after 10.40am, prompting the evacuation of at least 150 students and staff members.

One female staff member, an asthmatic, was treated by paramedics at the scene after inhaling smoke. A firefighter is understood to have suffered a shoulder injury.

At least four training salons and several teaching and storage rooms were believed to have been wrecked by the fire, which was possibly caused by a faulty hair dryer.

A member of staff saw sparks coming from the seated-style hairdryer, unplugged it and raised the alarm. It was not until the building was already being evacuated and the fire service on their way that the fire took hold.

It took more than 50 firefighters manning an aerial ladder and eight engines from across the Fylde Coast to deal with the blaze. The college grounds, including the car park and evacuee muster points, were also said to have been evacuated because of fears that aerosol canisters in salons might explode.

The college's director of marketing, Andy Iredale, said staff were working hard to get hair, beauty and sports therapy courses back on track for nearly 300 students, despite 'substantial damage'.

"We have a lot of space within the campuses where we can accommodate these students. A difficulty for us though is that this is specialist provision with hair and beauty equipment."

Options could include holding classes in Ansdell's separate canteen and adjoining classrooms, at the smaller hair and beauty campus at Carleton Court, Fleetwood, or in portable buildings in Ansdell's grounds, he said.

Management are also waiting for Lancashire Fire and Rescue's official report - detailing the cause of the fire and the full extent of the damage - before putting a cost on the blaze.

And he said the college wasn't planning to improve its 'already excellent procedures for ensuring the health and safety of staff and students'.

The Ansdell campus will stay closed this week, but a hotline number - 01253 504233 - has been set up to give further information to staff and students.