A SPECIAL school’s swimming pool is out of bounds after a fire sparked a chemical scare.

The blaze swept through the plant room of the swimming pool building in Newbridge School,

Barley Lane, Goodmayes, last week.

The pool was not being used at the time, around 5.15 on October 19, and the school was empty apart from some teachers and cleaning staff.

Due to the chemicals used in the swimming pool a special emergency response unit was dispatched and around 20 firefighters from Ilford and Romford fire stations spent around two hours tackling the flames.

Two members of staff were treated for smoke inhalation by paramedics at the scene but did not need to go to hospital, the school said.

The damaged room is now getting a thorough clean and headteacher Peter Bouldstridge said he hopes children will be splashing around again in no time.

He said: “Obviously we’re a special school so the pool is very important to us and our pupils make good use of it.

“We also have lots of people who use it out-of-hours.

“It was unfortunate but hopefully it will be up and running again soon.

“We were happy with the safety procedures that were carried out.

“We were in a meeting at the time and there were some cleaners about.

“The alarm was triggered and the procedure went very smoothly.

“We were happy with that and I think the fire brigade was too.”

Barley Lane is one of Newbridge’s two campuses and caters for children aged 14 to 19 with a wide range special educational needs.

It was set up in 2005 after the merge of Hyleford and Ethel Davis Schools.

As well as lessons, it runs a wide range of after-school clubs and groups.