Firefighters tackle large fire at Westleigh Methodist Primary School

Four fire engines were called to the Westleigh Lane school at around 10.52am along with a hydraulic platform unit.

The blaze involved the roof of the main hall, which measures 50 x 100 metres, and all upper levels of the school.

Smoke billowing from the roof of the school

Crews tackled the flames from a height with four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus to extinguish the flames with four jets and a nine metre ladder.

The main hall of the single storey school has been contained and crews are planning the next steps to completely put the fire out.

No-one was hurt in the fire.

The cause of it is not known yet.

Officer in charge of the fire, station manager Roberts said: “Thanks to the hard work of our crews the main fire has now been extinguished and thankfully the fire has been contained to the main hall.

"We are continuing to extinguish fire pockets within the building from two sectors.

“There is no further spread to other buildings at the school but its likely crews will be in attendance throughout the day.

“Cordons are place, so please avoid the area if possible."

 Pictures from the scene at Westleigh Methodist Primary School in Leigh. Our crews will be dampening down for the next couple of hours.
Fantastic work from our amazing firefighters in preventing the fire from spreading further 🔥🔥.
➡️ https://t.co/Oc9IAdXzoo pic.twitter.com/fuMiOawc8w

— Manchester Fire (@manchesterfire) March 25, 2018

Crews remained on the scene to dampen down the fire pockets in the main hall.

Firefighters dampen down the hotspots at the school

A spokesman for Westleigh Methodist Primary School said: "We are devastated by the news that there has been a fire at school.

"Thankfully nobody has been hurt. 

"The school will be closed tomorrow.

"Please keep checking our news feed for further news and updates.

"We are deeply saddened by these events."

Kelly Partington, 40, was first on the scene to report the fire.

She said: "It was my childhood school and I could not believe it was on fire.

"Me, my sisters, my daughter, my nephew and nieces have all been to the school.

"It has been a part of the community for years."

I cannot praise enough the brave @manchesterfire team who have helped bring the fire under control and preventing the fire from spreading further at Westleigh Methodist Primary. Thank you.

— Jo Platt MP (@JoPlattMP) March 25, 2018

A spokesman for Wigan Council added: "A huge thank you to the brave fire fighters who tackled the fire today at Westleigh Methodist Primary and preventing the damage from being even worse."