A HEADTEACHER condemned young vandals who staged an arson attack on his special school.

The attack came at 8pm on Tuesday (June 17) at the Woodlands School for severely handicapped children in Whitegate Drive, Blackpool.

A shed full of furniture and craft equipment specially adapted for the disabled was razed to the ground, school-windows daubed with paint and milk-bottles broken over the playground.

The blaze was only stopped from spreading by an alert neighbour who spotted the hooligans and called the fire brigade.

Headteacher Mr Sam Forde said: "I'm totally appalled at this wanton vandalism.

"It says a great deal about the standards of supervision by parents.

"It was a very serious attack, the worst I've seen in the five years I've been here.

"If the people who did this could see how it's affected the children and the danger they put people into, I hope they would feel very ashamed."

His 62 pupils, many in wheelchairs, were unable to use the main entrance the following day due to the fire damage, or attend the swimming pool, neither were they allowed out onto the playground till the glass was cleared.

Mr Forde praised Community Services, a part of the Probation Service, whose young men have helped with several projects at the school and carried out a swift clean-up.

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