STUDENTS at a Poole school which was struck by a huge fire three years ago proudly unveiled their new arts block in a special ceremony.

More than 60 firefighters tackled the blaze at Lytchett Minster School, on Post Green Road, back on December 27, 2012, which saw the entire three-storey arts building destroyed including the coursework by GCSE and A-level students contained within it.

Residents, staff and students looked on in horror as the blaze started in the roof and quickly spread to the rest of the building, including a 450-seat theatre, art classrooms, music and recording studios, dance spaces and drama rooms.

On Thursday, Andrew Mead, headteacher, welcomed all of the people who helped to get the art block re-built to the same specifications as its predecessor, including staff from Borough of Poole and the school's previous head teacher, Stuart Clark.

Mr Mead said: "It's a stunning building and a lovely learning environment. Very few schools in the country can boast of an art centre such as this.

"The event was a chance to thank everybody that has been involved in rebuilding the arts block including our insurers, Zurich, who have been absolutely fantastic throughout the process.

"It has been a massive team effort by so many people."

The school's head of art, Andrew Gower, said: "It's three years since the fire and it has gone surprisingly quickly. A lot of crisis management was put in place at the time and the students were taught in temporary classrooms including the Olympics block, which was originally in the Olympic Village in London. It managed to keep all the arts together, but it was always temporary."

Speaking about the day of the fire, he said: "It was just after Christmas and I remember seeing it on the news. The fire service were here and everybody was just watching the building burn.

"We weren't expecting the building to be anything the same. There have been some slight changes and improvements, but it's great to have the building back."