FOUR pupils at Potterne Primary School caused a fire in the school hall after they were playing with matches.

All staff and children got out of the school safely. One teacher went back in and put the fire out by using a fire extinguisher.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage is believed to have been caused to the hall and it will be out of use until after the half term holiday.

The school governors view the incident seriously but have decided not to exclude the pupils involved.

Headteacher Clare Brookes said: "The pupils concerned are very sorry for what they did. The parents of the pupils are very upset.

"I have talked to the children involved about the consequences of fires and they know how potentially serious the incident was.

"The children have had their rights and privileges, which are extra responsibilities they had for doing certain things around the school, withdrawn."

The fire started just before 2.15pm last Friday when the pupils were playing with the matches in the hall.

The matches were kept on a high windowsill behind the piano. Miss Brookes said all the pupils knew they were not allowed to touch the matches.

It is believed the fire started after the fabric on the back of the piano caught fire.

One of the pupils involved told a teacher that the piano was on fire and she activated the fire alarm and called the fire brigade.

Within 20 seconds the school had been evacuated and all the pupils had been accounted for.

A male teacher, who does not wish to be named, felt confident he could tackle the fire and went back inside.

Miss Brookes said: "The teacher had got his class out and had checked them off the register. He went in to fight the fire using a fire extinguisher. There were flames and smoke in the hall but he was able to put the fire out using the extinguisher."

Firefighters from Devizes arrived soon afterwards and after inspecting the hall they used their ventilation fan to blow away some of the smoke.

The teacher went to hospital as a precaution but he suffered no smoke damage or ill effects.

Miss Brookes, who took over as headteacher at the 70-pupil school last September, said of the teacher's actions: "I am very grateful for what he did. His actions certainly saved a lot of damage. He was very brave and he showed his dedication beyond the call of duty."

Miss Brookes said: "We have regular fire drills and on Friday the staff and children carried out the procedures to evacuate the school safely and quickly."