A HEADTEACHER has condemned arsonists who torched equipment on the site of the new Bengeworth school and caused £75,000 worth of damage.

David Braham, headteacher at Bengeworth First School, said he was “disappointed and frustrated” by the attack at land off Kings Road which happened at about 9pm on Sunday.

Just the charred shells of a JCB tractor, a Terex dump-truck and a roller remained once firefighters extinguished the blaze and a plastic tank containing £1,000 of diesel was also destroyed.

Mr Braham urged residents who may have seen or heard anything to come forward in a bid to prevent further incidents.

“I’m very disappointed and extremely frustrated about what’s happened because obviously this makes a further delay to the completion [of the new school] in addition to the cold weather we’re having at the moment,” he said.

“It’s also a great shame that somebody has done this to our school which is part of the Bengeworth community.”

Mr Braham added any delays would have a “knock-on” effect on the children who are set to start moving into their new school next September.

Evesham firefighters spent more than two hours tackling the blaze. Watch manager Julian Jenkins said: “This was a fierce fire due to the presence of diesel and the risk of exploding tyres, but we were able to bring it safely under control using a regular foam jet as well as the compressed air foam system from Upton.

“Fortunately the diesel had settled in a pool as it escaped from the tank rather than spreading throughout the building site and this helped contain the fire.”

Police are appealing for witnesses and information about the fire which is being treated as arson. Call 03003 333000, quoting 667S/051210, or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.