A school is set to reopen classrooms more than a year after they were completely destroyed by a major fire.

Cecil Jones Academy lost 22 classrooms and a library following the blaze in August last year.

The fire was sparked by workmen carrying out repairs on the roof of the building in Eastern Avenue.

The blaze gutted part of the two-storey building and saw 12 fire crews battling to prevent it spreading to the rest of the school.

Pupils, who have been housed in demountable buildings since the fire, will return to new classrooms in the New Year.

Bev Williams, chief executive of the Legra Trust which runs the school said: “After the fire in August last year we lost a substantial part of the building. Over the last 18 months we have had Portacabins for the children while the rebuild was going on.That will be open on January 3.

“Staff were in there last week having a look round and they were impressed. It looks amazing.”

The fire began on one of the hottest days of 2016 and saw fire crews from across the area attending.

Ms Williams added: “The fire swept through the building and was contained after it had destroyed 22 classrooms.

“Everything disappeared, including the library. We had to make a classroom into a library. We had everything itemised and through the insurance we claimed back the cost of replacing books.

“We’ve updated the library according to the school’s current needs. It’s going to be amazing.”

After the fire, lessons had to be taught in the sports hall and dance studio.

The school faced a wait for 18 demountable buildings to arrive a month after the fire. These will be removed in February. Ms Williams said: “We have to remove them in the February half-term. We can’t do it during term time as they have to move cranes in and close the road.”