CHILDREN WERE locked in school as a suspicious blaze prompted an asbestos alert.
Staff at Arbroath High School were warned to keep pupils indoors after a fire broke out in the adjacent Lochlands Drive around 9.30am on Friday.
Fearing poisonous fumes, the school contacted Tayside Fire and Rescue, who advised that nobody should be allowed out until the full scale of the situation was ascertained.
A car was found well alight in a garage next to the former driving test centre.
Two fire crews from Arbroath attended and brought the flames under control by around 10.30am, using one main jet and two breathing apparatus sets.
After the flames were doused, it emerged there had been no asbestos and pupils were allowed to leave at around 11am.
The fire service and Tayside Police have launched a joint investigation into the incident, which is being treated as suspicious.
Checks were carried out in the roof space and a spokeswoman for Tayside Fire and Rescue said the blaze was being treated as “suspected wilful fire-raising.”
She added: “There was a call from the school who raised safety concerns.”
