EXAM pressure, it is claimed, is one of the main reasons behind a summer rise in arson attacks on East Lancashire schools.

Research by the Arson Prevention Bureau, a group run by insurance companies, revealed May and June was the peak time for malicious fire setting.

It gave exam pressure, warm weather and lighter evenings with children, the main perpetrators of arson, more likely to be out and about.

Although the overall number of arson attacks on schools has been in decline, the trend towards school-time attacks is on the up.

Now fire chiefs are warning schools to take more note of the latest research.

Lancashire Fire Service run a year-round educational programme in a bid to deter youngsters from starting fires in schools.

Sub Officer Chris Caton, leader of the Young Offenders' Arson Programme, who specialises in convincing arson offenders not to re-offend, blames ignorance and "thoughtless stupidity" for youngsters starting fires.

And Assistant Divisional Officer Paul Ashworth added: "Exam pressure plays a big part in the rise.

"There are often incidents when youngsters break fire alarms to get out of lessons or sometimes start fires. And once the 'seal' has been broken on an exam room situation, they know the exam is scuppered.

"The number of daytime fires in schools is rising, which is worrying as at some point a child will lose its life."

Mick Frankland, area commander for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Eastern Command, said: "The evidence provided by the research is quite right.

"This time of year is always far worse as the lighter nights come on and children have more time to play.

"We have also seen a trend where youngsters target the same schools or buildings in disrepair. Security can be found to be weak or the building becomes prone to vandalism if parts are scruffy or boarded up. The older schools are certainly far more susceptible to attack."

The figures show the number of large fires causing £100,000 of damage rose by 55 per cent in 2003, with the national cost of fires standing at £73million.

Between April 1999 and September 2003, Lancashire fire and rescue attended 186 primary school fires, of which 45 per cent were started deliberately during the school day. There were around 800 secondary school fires during the same period.

Police and fire officers are still investigating a blaze which gutted a classroom at the site of the former St Wilfrids lower school in Blackburn on Thursday night.

And in June last year, three classrooms in a 1960s building, part of Moorhead High School in Queen's Road West, Accrington, were destroyed and Highfield Primary School in Wright Street, Chorley, faced a substantial repair bill after classrooms were damaged. Both fires were caused by arson.

East Lancashire fire service leaders are asking the Government to install automatic heat sensitive sprinkler systems in school buildings to help prevent the damage. One such system is up and running at Hoghton Gregson Lane Primary.

An arson attack there three years ago took just two hours to reduce the school to ashes.