Children and teachers have been left devastated after their prize garden went up in flames.

Fourteen firefighters were called to tackle the blaze at Northbury Primary School, Barking, shortly after midnight on Friday morning. The fire, which took firefighters half an hour to bring under control, destroyed the greenhouse and shed along with thousands of pounds worth of gardening equipment.

Assistant headteacher at the Northbury Close school, Kulvinder Juhal, admitted she was still shaken after the blaze. “I’ve been in tears again today,” she said. “We were all shocked when we found out, the children have been really upset too.”

Pupils will have to miss out on their usual gardening clubs for weeks after their level five Royal Horticultural Society patch was destroyed.

“I’ve been here for 25 years and we have never had anything like this,” added Kulvinder. “I didn’t expect anything like this.”

The Met has not yet confirmed whether the incident is being treated as arson.