HUNDREDS of children had to be evacuated following a fire scare at a Bury school.

Pupils at St. Joseph and St. Bede RC Primary were escorted out of the building when a room become engulfed in smoke.

Two fire crews were called to the school in Danesmoor Drive when the fire alarm was set off at about 10.30am yesterday.

Fire investigators believe an object on top of the cooker had accidentally fallen off and caught a switch which lit the cooker.

Watch commander Steve Wilcox said: “When we arrived, the staffroom was full of smoke so we evacuated staff and children and used a positive pressure ventilator to get rid of the smoke. We would advise people not to get in the habit of storing things on top of a hob.”

The building was reopened after about 30 minutes.