Pupils warned to wrap up warm as heating system packs up

ENGINEERS were racing against time to restore the central heating system at Axminster Primary School this week, as temperatures plummeted.

They were called in after the boiler suffered a catastrophic failure on Thursday.

Headmaster Tony Harvell said the damage was irreparable and they were going to have to replace it.

In the meantime he said they were confident of finding a stop-gap solution to keep the school warm.

Engineers from Plymouth were looking at installing a special temporary heating unit which could be plugged into the system, bypassing the boiler.

He added: “We also have sufficient small heaters for the classrooms.”

Parents were sent a note on Friday advising them to wrap up their children well while the system was down and were warned a complete new system might not be installed until early in the new year.

Fortunately the pupils were off on Monday – one of the coldest days of the winter so far.

Instead, some 100 teachers were at the school for a maths convention.

Mr Harvell said they were keeping “cosy” in the main hall.