FIRE has ripped through a former school building leaving it a charred wreck.

Firefighters from Dovercourt, Manningtree and Frinton were called to the former Harwich Primary School, in Main Road, Harwich, at 4.20am yesterday, and found the school ablaze.

Incident commander, Dovercourt Station Officer Richard Nunn, said: "The fire was well developed. It was in the roof space and had been going a little while.

"We knew it was a derelict building and was not occupied, and we fought the fire from outside the building using main jets."

A total of 30 firefighters fought the blaze, which left 80 per cent of the roof destroyed and severely damaged the ground floor.

Flames coming from the roof were 15 feet high, and firefighters also used the aerial ladder from Chelmsford to deal with the blaze.