A STUDENT teacher turned hero when he leapt into action to tackle a fire in the classroom of a city school yesterday.

Neil Busby, a 24-year-old PE teacher at Christopher Whitehead High School, saw smoke coming from the window of an art workshop and raised the alarm.

He then ran to the scene, and, checking no pupils were in danger, grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the blaze.

The fire had started when heat from a pottery kiln ignited nearby papers on a bench and art materials in one of the school's workshops.

Mr Busby ran 50 yards across the playground to reach the source of the blaze.

The whole school was evacuated and two fire engines arrived to ensure the situation was under control.

"Mr Busby spotted the problem from another window and put the fire out quickly and efficiently," said headteacher David Thompson.

Classroom

"Some art materials were burned, but it was small incident, safely dealt with."

The fire was spotted around 2pm yesterday - during lunch break at the school - and no serious damage was done to the classroom.

"As it was lunchtime, the only children in the school building were in the dining room and therefore not in any danger at all," said Mr Thompson. "We ran a fire drill, in which we are well-practised, and the whole thing went very smoothly."

Lessons were unaffected and no one was injured in the incident.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Fire Brigade praised Mr Busby's swift action.

"His reaction to the fire was very commendable, and showed how important it is to be aware of fire safety and how to use equipment correctly," said Alec Mackie, a spokesman for the force.

"The whole situation was dealt with very well indeed, and was a great credit not just to Mr Busby, but also to the school's fire safety procedure."