DOZENS of youngsters were back at preschool today after a blaze had temporarily closed Whiteley Community Centre.

More than 40 children from Whiteley Community Pre-School and Buttercups Nursery were among those evacuated from the building when fire broke out in the boiler room.

Damage to the kitchen ceiling, boiler room floor and electrical wiring has left the centre in Gull Coppice without heat or use of the kitchen.

Staff worked around the clock to complete temnporary repairs to the building so that it could be back in operation today.

Whiteley Community Association, which runs the centre, and owner Fareham h Council expect the final cost of repairs to run into thousands of pounds.

Fareham Council leader Sean Woodward said: "Our top priority is to get it back open again because this leaves dozens of children without a pre-school and a church with no home.

"This is a big blow to Whiteley as it's the centre of the community. Fortunately, the staff helped everyone from the building in record time and are to be congratulated."

Jim Tyler, chairman of Whiteley Community Association, added: "It's a dreadful shame, but at least no one was hurt and the damage is repairable, although it looks as though it will be quite expensive."

Firefighters were called to the scene of the fire shortly after 4pm on Wednesday. They believe it started in the boiler.

Whiteley Community Centre opened in 2002 and offers facilities including a multi-purpose hall, purpose built pre-school, coffee bar and lounge, meeting rooms and a car park.