Schools across the district are being charged an extra £1 million for fire insurance because of a surge in arson attacks.

The news comes as leaders of an inner city Bradford primary school were today forced to temporarily close it after a spate of fires left them fearing for children's safety.

Emergency security precautions are being put in place at Atlas Primary School in Lincoln Close, Manningham, where firebugs repeatedly tried to torch a temporary classroom.

In the most serious incident the building was set alight with a teacher inside who was unaware of the danger.

The incidents come as Britain's biggest local authority insurer, Zurich Municipal, is charging £1.3million for Bradford Council's fire premium compared to £342,000 last year.

The company blamed the increase on the rise in arson attacks on schools which has led it to pay claims totalling £6 million after blazes destroyed Iqra Community Primary School in Manningham, last September and Carlton Bolling College in Undercliffe, in January 2000.

Now head teachers have been warned by the Council's director of finance Steve Morris that the average primary school will have to pay an extra £3,820 for insurance while secondary schools will have to fork out an additional £21,000.

Fire insurance costs are always paid by schools from their budgets allocated by the Local Education Authority. The budgets also cover teachers' salaries, books and equipment.

But most of the district's 200 schools will be hit by the increase because they use insurance brokered by the authority rather than getting their own.

Today, Councillor David Ward, the Council's executive member for education, said it was an unexpected blow as they were putting millions of pounds extra into schools to raise standards.

He said: "It's like taking one step forward and two steps back and very disappointing."

Finance chiefs are now in talks with the company in a bid to get a reduction and are asking for earlier notification in future of proposed premiums.

Mr Morris said they were not given any figures by the insurers until the end of March after the budget was set.

But he said they had assessed the market and felt it was still in the best interests of the Council to try to reach agreement with the existing insurers and officers were also looking at any cost effective fire prevention measures which could reduce the insurance premium.

He said the Council was still being charged a lower premium than many other local authorities.

"To put it into context, the schools are getting £11 million extra and the delegated budget is £204 million this year. The insurance costs represent less than a half of one per cent of it," he said.

But Ian Murch, secretary of the Bradford branch of the National Union of Teachers and a member of the union's National Executive, said: "It is clearly not fair that schools should have to pay for something which has nothing to do with education."

Ian Davey, Bradford secretary of the Association of Schoolmasters and Women Teachers, said: "Many primary schools are really suffering and considering redundancies. I think the LEA could keep the premiums down by improved security."

Labour spokesman for education, Councillor Ralph Berry, said he was seeking talks with other political groups in the hope that funds could be found to help the schools.

Tory education spokesman, Councillor Dale Smith, said the Council should take a closer look at security, including 24-hour cover at some schools.

But Karen Bigwood, spokesman for Zurich Municipal, said Bradford Council's premium was lower than many other authorities because of its proactive approach to security.

She added that school fires were a growing national problem and claims had leaped from £42 million in the last three years to £87 million.

Today Atlas Primary School head teacher Beryl Powell said fires and the water used to put it out had caused thousands of pounds of damage to the building and to schoolbooks, raffle prizes and equipment.

She said: "There have been three attacks in the last week, all on the same temporary classroom.

"We can't understand why anyone would want to target the school. We are having a clean up and putting in some extra security measures, we will be reopening on Monday."

NUT spokesman Mr Murch said: "The fact that someone has got into the school while it was running, and was allegedly being guarded by security guards, and was able to set fire to it, is very, very worrying. I hope the police are taking it very seriously."

Firefighters from Bradford were called to the portable classroom at 8am and 1.20pm yesterday to tackle two separate fires.

Detectives at Bradford North CID are making inquiries into "a series of small fires" at the school, a spokesman said.

"We'd ask anyone with information or any witnesses to contact us on (01274) 376059."