THE school devastated by a £500,000 blaze at the weekend could be back to full working order in less than a fortnight.

Staff, governors and council officers are working round the clock to meet a tight June 3 deadline to have Withins School, Breightmet, back to near normal.

Fire destroyed half the comprehensive school in the early hours of Sunday.

Brian Atkinson, Deputy Director of Education, said: "Half the school has been lost, but everyone at the school and officers from the local authority are already looking ahead.

"Yesterday everyone was on site assessing how many temporary classrooms were needed and taking steps to secure them.

"At present half the pupils are in school, plus those taking exams, but everyone has their sights set on fully re-opening the school on June 3."

Last night there was extra security on the Withins site. Other schools are also understood to have stepped up their security measures to protect against any copycat incidents.

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