A HEAD today spoke of her delight after 200 primary school pupils went back to their classes nearly six weeks after arsonists struck.

Emergency classroms have been installed on the fields at the rear of the burnt-down Gregson Lane Primary School.

Viv Clark, the headteacher of the primary school at Bournes Row, Hoghton, said: "It is fantastic to be back in school after just six weeks.

"The children have only missed four weeks of term time but we have reassured parents that we are creating initiatives to catch up on the work.

"All the children were really excited to be back at school.

"Parents told me that their children had been up at 5am because they could not wait to get back."

A completely new school will not be completed for two years but pupils and teachers aren't in any hurry to move out of their temporary buildings.

Mrs Clark said: "The new school is brilliant as it is fully fitted with everything that we could possibly need and the hall is twice as big as our old one.

"One good thing to come from the fire is that we will have a state-of-the-art school with all the modern technologies incorporated into the design, thanks to the Lancashire Education Authority.

"The LEA has been extremely supportive and have helped us to get back on our feet"