A HEADTEACHER has said she hoped the judge who will sentence two boys who started the £2million blaze at her school would remember that they had also destroyed a community.

The youngsters, aged 14 and 15, who cannot be named because of a court order, pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court yesterday to a charge of arson -- destroying Brindle Gregson Lane Primary School. The fire broke out on May 12 last year.

The two boys entered their pleas on the day they were due to stand trial on a charge that they were reckelss as to whether property would be destroyed or damaged.

The fire broke out after a wheelie bin was lit and left smouldering near the building. Defence barristers said the youngsters had not foreseen the spread of the fire.

Judge Pamela Badley adjourned the case for pre-sentence and medical reports. The boys were remanded on conditional bail to March 5.

She said the court would be looking at all sentencing options, including custody.

Gregson Brindle Lane headteacher Vivienne Clark said: "You cannot underestimate the impact the fire had. Every week of every term more disruption comes to light. Everything was destroyed.

"The fire didn't just destroy the school, it destroyed the community.

"I hope the judge is going to take these factors into account when she sentences the boys."

Work on building a new school is due to start in May, with a completion date set for summer 2003.

"It will be state-of -the-art. The plans are very exciting," Mrs Clark said.

The school's seven classes, accommodating 200 pupils and staff, are currently being run from temporary, demountable buildings on the old school playing fields.

The buildings also include an assembly hall and flagged playground.

The newly-built school will include a pioneering sprinkler system as part of a multi-million pound County Hall plan to beat arsonists.

In the the eight years up to 2000, 534 fires at schools in Lancashire resulted in more than £4million damage -- 90 per cent of it caused by arson.

The county's Combined Fire Authority said recently in a report: "With a sprinkler system even the most severe outbreak of fire can have its growth slowed down and the fire size contained, not only limiting overall damage but assisting the fire service to gain access to the building."