Firefighters have been tackling a major blaze at a public school in Malvern.

A girls boarding school building where the house mistress and her family lived at Malvern College on The Lees Road, has been almost completely destroyed by the fire which broke out at around 4am today.

Thirteen engines were at the scene although students are on their Easter break. At the height of the incident more than 70 firefighters were dealing with the fire.

Although the fire took hold of one of the accommodation blocks, fortunately firefighters were able to save around half of the building.

Group Manager Mark Preece said: "On arrival at the scene our firefighters were faced with a very severe fire which had taken hold in one of the accommodation blocks. Thankfully as it is the Easter holidays the block was empty.

"Firefighters worked extremely hard to deal with the fire and thanks to their efforts they managed to create a break in the fire to stop it spreading further." Engines that attended the incident included the Aerial Ladder Platform from Worcester Fire Station and the Environmental Protection Unit from Stourport Fire Station.

Eight firefighters wearing Breathing Apparatus sets tackled the fire from inside the building and crews were also dealing with the fire externally.

The stop message was given at just before 9.30am this morning although firefighters are expected to remain on scene for the rest of the day. A fire investigation into the cause of the fire is now underway.