Stop this now!

SCHOOLS across East Lancashire have learnt to live with the threat of fire.

Pupils at Brindle Gregson Lane Primary in Hoghton know full well the devastation that can be caused by an arson attack on a school. Their building burnt to the ground three years ago.

Newchurch County Primary School in Newchurch, Rossendale was also targeted by arsonists in April -- a blaze which threatened to devastate the school.

Now, on the run up to Bonfire Night, one of the busiest times of the year for the fire service, the National Union of Teachers and the Fire Brigades Union are stepping up their campaign to get every new school building in East Lancashire fitted with sprinkler systems.

Firefighters tackled a total of 145 fires in Lancashire County Council schools between 1999 and 2003, the majority in East Lancashire -- and 22 in schools in Blackburn with Darwen. Arson in schools nationally costs £100m a year.

The FBU has pushed for the installation of sprinklers in schools for many years.

Andy Gilchrist, FBU general secretary, has now written to the chairperson of every fire authority in England and Wales asking them to back the campaign.

"Firefighters see first hand that school fires devastate communities and disrupt education," he said. "This is about investing in protecting the fabric of our communities and the safety of our children.

"Sprinkler systems slow down the spread of the fire and will stop an enormous amount of damage.

" Some kids think it is fun to start fires. What they don't see is the damage."

The NUT has launched a national campaign as part of European Health and Safety Week to make it a legal requirement that schools have sprinkler systems. Only 150 of 28,000 schools in Britain have the systems.

Simon Jones, East Lancashire's council member for the NUT, said: "The threat of injury to pupils, teachers and other staff and firefighters is one aspect of the problem caused by fires in schools but there is often disruption to the children's education."