An arson investigation is under way after a former education centre in Deighton was attacked by firebugs.

And it has emerged the former Deighton High School and land nearby has been hit FOUR times at the weekend.

Now fire chiefs have warned that those who carry out such deliberate criminal acts are putting firefighters’ lives at risk.

Firefighters also tackled a fire in nearby Sheepridge. The building closed as The Deighton Centre in March last year.

The most serious fire broke out at the Kirklees Council-owned building at around 10.20pm on Saturday and saw crews committed for three hours to bring the blaze under control.

Kirklees Station Commander Richard Doyle, who is based at Holmfirth Station, said: “There has been a spate of fires in the Deighton area - four over the weekend.

“Those who are carrying out these acts are putting firefighters’ lives at risk and pulling resources from other areas of the district.

“We could be needed to attend a house fire but instead we are dealing with incidents such as these.

“Clearly, other resources will be brought in to cover but deliberate fires have quite serious repercussions, not just on firefighters but on the wider public.

“I would urge the public to be vigilant and assist us by keeping rubbish such as garden waste to a minimum to avoid opportunistic occurrences.”

Speaking of Saturday’s blaze Mr Doyle added: “Due to the nature of the building we didn’t commit crews inside until after the aerial appliances had tackled the blaze from the roof. It appears to have started in the third floor and spread to the roof.

“There are no external staircases or fire escapes as the building is in the process of being demolished so it is most likely someone has gone inside to access the third floor.“It is being treated as suspicious.”

Fire crews were also called to the site in Deighton Road twice on Sunday afternoon to tackle small rubbish fires.

The other incidents in the spate included a call to the nearby Tenter Hill Farm at 5.30pm on Saturday.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We were alerted to a fire at The Deighton Centre in Huddersfield at around 10pm on Saturday. The fire is being treated as suspected arson.

“We would urge anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area at this time to contact police on the non-emergency number, 101.”