NURSERY children had to be evacuated as smoke from a kitchen fire began to enter their classroom.

Some 20 children and staff fled Elland CE Primary School nursery block after hearing the fire alarm go off at around 2pm yesterday.

Elland fire station watch commander Andy Marshall told the Examiner no-one was hurt.

A small fire had started in the microwave and was easily extinguished.

Watch commander Marshall said: “It was a plastic lid cover that had been put over food to stop it splattering over the microwave.

“The microwave had been left on for too long and it burnt through the food and melted the plastic and caused a bit of damage to the microwave.”

Watch commander Marshall said the blaze was small but there was a lot of smoke.

The school’s smoke alarm was directly linked to the emergency services who dispatched fire engines.

The brigade also received reports of black smoke coming from the Westgate school.

After making the scene safe, firefighters used large fans to blow the smoke out of the premises.

The operation took about half an hour.

The children were taken up to the second storey of the nursery building which wasn’t affected by smoke, before their parents were called to collect them.