A massive fire ripped through a school last night in a suspected arson attack, causing thousands of pounds' damage.

Orange flames shot 60ft into the night sky as the fire raged at 900-pupil Tideway School, Newhaven.

At one point, more than 70 firefighters battled the blaze.

The main hall, reception rooms and staff rooms were all wrecked by the fire which is thought to have been started deliberately.

Fire crews from as far as Worthing, Balcombe and Uckfield were still at the scene today and were expected to remain until tonight. Eastbourne station officer Mark Matthews, of East Sussex Fire and Rescue, said it was one of the largest fires he had ever had to tackle.

He said: "It is a very significant fire and it is a school so it is going to affect the community. The wider issues are there to see.

"The main building has taken quite a lot of damage and may well have to be demolished.

"There is still burning taking place and we have to make sure all the hot spots and areas producing smoke are cooled.

"The building seems to be intact but there are signs of cracking in certain places. I don't think there is going to be any collapse."

The school authorities had recently spent £40,000 on refurbishments to the main hall which was built in the Sixties.

The hall, which had new audio equipment and curtains installed for the stage, was wrecked in the fire.

Pupils had been due to perform the play Blue Remembered Hills there within the next few weeks. The library and resource centre, which was rebuilt four years ago at a cost of £250,000, was also severely damaged.

Station officer Dave Yates, of Battle fire station, who took charge of the brigade's operation, said: "The central part of the main building has been seriously damaged by fire and there is also smoke damage.

"When the crews first arrived there was a grave risk of the fire spreading across the whole school but we managed to stop it.

"A large amount of the school has been saved and hopefully it will be back in operation quite quickly."

Mr Yates said what he had seen indicated the school hall had not been fitted with a sprinkler system.

He said: "Schools are not required by law to have them. Some schools don't. All educational establishments are target for arson and it's up to the council how they control it."

The alarm was raised by a former Tideway pupil who lives next door to the school in Southdown Road.

Matthew Winton, 24, of MJ Valeting, said: "It was about 1am when I heard three loud bangs. I realised the bedroom was lit up quite substantially. I jumped out of bed and saw flames about 10ft high coming out of the school.

"I called 999 and then I ran over to see if I could wake up the caretaker but I couldn't find him. The fire brigade arrived. I ran down the road to direct them up to this side of the school because the gates were locked on the other side. The fire had really taken hold by then. We watched them try to put the flames out until about 4am.

"It was so violent that all they could really do was try to contain it."

Mr Winton added: "There were about a dozen fire engines. They were lined up down the street. The fire cameraman told me it could take up to a day and a half to completely put out the fire."

His partner Sarah Leese, 33, who works for Southern Water, said: "I woke up and heard Matthew shout 'The school's on fire'. It's really sad."

Headteacher Adrian Money is on holiday but parents and staff arriving at the school today looked in disbelief at the charred remains.

Parent Angela Smith, 32, of Gibbon Road, Newhaven, said: "It looks really bad. The whole main building has disappeared. Parents will be shocked but the kids will love it. I think it is going to be hard for those taking exams in the summer."

Her 12-year-old daughter Amy Dorrell said: "It's weird to see it like this."

Gas metre reader Daniel Hull, 28, was a pupil at the school more than ten years ago. He said: "It's really sad. It looks like the headmaster's office and deputy headmaster's office have gone. I think it's probably kids who would have done it."

Mr Hull, who lives in Seaford, took a detour on the way to work on hearing the news to see his former school.

He said: "I had to see it to believe it. I have got loads of memories of that building. I had to stand outside the headmaster's office quite a lot. Now that is all gone.

"The school was doing really well and had won so many awards."

Senior teacher Roy Bellingham, who has taught maths at the school for 35 years, said: "Pupils' coursework and records should be safe."

"We hope to have most students back to school next week and we hope to cause minimum disruption.

"Three of the buildings, including most classrooms, have been unaffected although they might be smoke damaged."

He said exams would take place in the games hall which was not destroyed by the fire.

Cleaner Ray Osborne, 64, from Newhaven, said: "It's a shock. I was here yesterday and everything was normal."

An East Sussex County Council spokesman said the immediate concern was to examine how much damage had been caused before tackling remedial work.

He said: "Thinking ahead to the start of the new term next week, we will be looking at what arrangements can be made for the children."

Sussex Police confirmed two local youths, aged 16 and 17, were arrested in connection with the fire and remained in custody today.