A HEADTEACHER at a school near Romsey has praised her staff for stopping an electric hob fire from spiraling out of control.

Crews from Romsey, Eastleigh, Redbridge and St Mary's were alerted to the fire at Braishfield Primary School, Common Hill Road, at 10.14am on Friday (February 5).

Headteacher, Louise Rhodes, told the Advertiser quick-thinking and the school's regular fire drills stopped the flame from spreading from the first-floor staff room.

She said members of staff threw a fire blanket over the fire, shut the door to the room before evacuating pupils to Braishfield Village Hall, Braishfield Road.

She explained: "There was a small fire in the staff room on Friday morning; down to the quick actions of members of staff throwing a fire blanket on the flame, and closing the door, it was quickly contained.

"We obviously practice fire drills regularly with staff and children and we were really pleased because those worked.

"We were able to evacuate children and staff safely and we are very grateful to Braishfield Village Hall for allowing us to go there and have a hot drink."

The headteacher, who has been at the helm for four years, thanked firefighters for coming to the school quickly.

She added staff were able to bring the children back into the building by lunchtime after firefighters extinguished the fire using two breathing apparatus and three jets.

The stop message was received at 10.47am, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed.

Romsey Fire Station also praised the school staff for keeping children safe and stopping the fire from becoming more serious.

A tweet from the crew reads: "The staff at the school did a brilliant job of shutting the door and stopping further spread to the building, then escorting the children into a nearby hall while we dealt with the incident."