NEIGHBOURS have told how they feared for their homes after a fire at a disused school.

The suspected arson was at the former site of St Aubyn’s School, just behind Rottingdean High Street, on Sunday afternoon.

There were fears that listed historic buildings on the property - which has been the site of several failed planning applications in recent years - had been gutted.

These fears proved unfounded.

However, a former nursery building and sports hall were destroyed.

Susan Fenton, whose house overlooks the school site, said: “I could see it from my bedroom window.

“I could just see black smoke.

“And because it was so windy, it was blowing everywhere.

“It was worrying, because you could hear crackling and we weren’t sure how close it was to the houses.”

East Sussex Fire and Rescue has said it is treating the blaze as arson.

Ms Fenton added: “Residents are really quite upset because it was arson.”

The site is home to listed structures including a cricket pavilion which has led to denied planning applications for the site since the school’s closure in 2013.

But The Argus can confirm that no listed buildings were damaged in the blaze, which occurred at the eastern edge of the property.

The older structures are closer to the school’s entrance, further to the southwest of the site.

Two contractors working for the developers who bought the site in January, Fairfax, were on site yesterday lunchtime, making sure the twitten which runs alongside the site of the fire was safe.

A former nursery was completely destroyed and the sports hall next to it, which towers over the twitten, was gutted.

Slates have fallen from its partially destroyed roof on to the twitten below.

The Fairfax team was yesterday making sure there was no further risk to the public before reopening the path.

In a statement, a Fairfax spokesman said there had been a number of instances of security breaches and vandalism, despite the company having boarded up the site and undertaken regular patrols.

He added: “Yesterday’s arson attack has come as a tremendous shock to everyone.

“We are extremely relieved to learn that no one was injured and are fully assisting the police and authorities with their investigations.

“The fire was contained to the gymnasium complex only and none of the listed buildings on the site were damaged.”

Anyone with information about the fire can call Sussex Police on 101.