VIDEO: Blaze breaks out at Wakefield school

The alarm was raised shortly after 12noon on Saturday at the former Castle Grove Infants School in Sandal.

Around half of the Pinfold Lane building was ablaze when the emergency services arrived while huge clouds of smoke poured from the site.

One nearby resident said: "It was really bad, at one point I was worried and thought it was going to spread to the flats.

"We were told to shut our windows because the smoke was so bad. You couldn't see across the road at one point.

"You can still smell it in the air even now."

Crews in attendance included Normanton, Dewsbury. Wakefield, Rothwell, Mirfield and Leeds.

They said 50 per cent of the roof was destroyed by the fire.

Planning permission was given earlier this year to demolish the old school site.

Having stood empty for six years, the school complex eventually became redundant after it was merged under one headteacher with the nearby Sandal Endowed CE Junior School.

Pupils left Castle Grove in 2015 to continue their education at the other school, which was rebuilt and then became known as Sandal Castle Community School.

However, the Pinfold Lane school building has become a magnet for vandals in recent years.

Fire crews had been called out on Friday night also.

One resident told the Express: "There are kids coming on there regularly. There were kids throwing stones at the windows a few weeks ago.

"I've called security a few times but they don't seem bothered.

"It needs demolishing, especially now. I don't want that eyesore there."