Two teenagers were due to appear in court today following a blaze at the weekend which destroyed six classrooms at a Hampshire school.

The fire on Saturday caused an estimated £1m damage to Thornden School, Chandler's Ford, forcing staff to close it for the entire week.

As well as the six classrooms being gutted, 80% of the school was affected by smoke damage. Pupils may return on Monday.

A county council spokeswoman said temporary classrooms were being installed and services to the main buildings reconnected.

Meanwhile, a meeting was due to take place between teachers and HCC staff this morning (Friday) following a further inspection.

The return will be phased, with Year 10 and 11 pupils given priority because they are studying for GCSE exams.

Don Allen, the county council executive member for education, spoke of his dismay at the damage. "It has caused a huge disruption.

"It is not yet known if any coursework has been damaged, but fortunately the school, in conjunction with examination boards, has procedures in place to ensure the evaluation of pupils' work will not suffer.

"We are working swiftly to have temporary classrooms in place once the school has been made safe and the classrooms have been cleaned of the smoke damage."

The blaze started at 11.30pm and fire crews from Winchester, Eastleigh, Romsey, Redbridge and St Mary's spent more than three hours tackling it.

The fire came a week after vandals used a kerbstone and bricks to cause £3,500 of damage to a concert hall.