A LARGE fire at the site of a former school was started deliberately, firefighters have said.

Crews were called to a destructive blaze at the Grade II listed Grange building, in Fronks Road, Dovercourt, on Tuesday, July 25 at about 8.54pm.

Two crews from Dovercourt had rushed to the scene at the former sixth form college and after seeing how quickly the fire was developing immediately requested a further two crews from Colchester and Manningtree.

An aerial ladder platform from Colchester was also called into action to help extinguish the fire. 

Due to a difficult water supply, a water bowser from Halstead was requested to shuttle water to the scene. 

Firefighters tackled the flames for about nine hours.

The blaze was extinguish by 5:45am the following morning, with a couple of crews remaining to monitor hotspots. 

Now, the fire service has revealed the incident came following an arson attack.

"An investigation found the fire was started deliberately", a spokesman said.

Crew Manager Norman Gooch from Dovercourt Fire Station added: "We have been called there a number of times over the years with reports to people setting fires inside the building, it is a great shame as it is an important part of history and a local land mark."