Primary school closed after overnight fire

The fire started with a solar panel on the roof of The Beeches Community Primary School

A primary school has been closed on what should have been the first day of term following a roof fire.

The Beeches Community Primary School on Shakespeare Road, Ipswich, said it would be shut to allow for a safety assessment to take place.

Six fire crews were called to reports of a blaze at about 21:45 BST on Wednesday. The roof fire involved solar panels, according to Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service.

"We hope to be able to reopen the school as soon as possible," the school said in a statement on its website.

Stephen Capper, the co-headteacher from The Beeches, said the fire had been "limited" but "did go up with quite a bang".

He said: "Fire in any building, but in a school in particular, could have been a really, really serious situation.

"But as it was, our neighbours, our community reported it immediately and the emergency services were here extremely quickly.

"We are immensely grateful to both the local residents and community and to the emergency services who did a fantastic job - they saved the school."

He said there was no internal damage, but the school wanted to check the building was completely safe before reopening on Thursday.