Staff from Scallywags Day Nursery in Oakham thank the community for its support after Leicestershire Fire and Rescue tackled a fire and saved pet gecko Luna at the premises in Cold Overton Road, Oakham

Nursery staff have thanked the community for rallying around to help following a fire at their premises in Oakham.

Preschool children from Scallywags Day Nursery are currently meeting at the Guide hut in Grampian Way after their room was gutted by fire on Saturday morning.

Thankfully firefighters were on the scene within minutes and managed to get the blaze under control before it spread to the rest of the building.

They also managed to rescue the nursery’s much-loved gecko, Luna.

Nursery manager Caroline Garnett-Clarke said everyone is working hard to get back to normal as soon as possible.

She said: “The children have actually been quite excited by the move! It’s a change for them to meet somewhere new.

"Everyone has been awesome and so supportive. The guide association is letting us use the hall and we've had lots of offers of equipment from other nurseries.

“It does a lot for your morale.”

Firefighters responded to an automatic fire alarm from the nursery at 5.24am on Saturday.

When they arrived in Cold Overton Road, two passers-by had also stopped to investigate after smelling smoke from the building on their way to work.

They flagged down the engine and the crews broke through the padlocked gate to get to work.

Firefighter Matt Basey said the blaze was out within 15 minutes but crews from both Oakham and Melton stayed on site until around 8.30am to dampen down the area and clear up the debris.

They believe it was caused by a tumble drier which may have been on overnight.

Matt said: “The short time it took us to get to the scene made a big difference.

"The gecko was in the main part of the building. The smoke had travelled through but thankfully the fire hadn't so managed to get it it out safely."

Luna is currently staying with a member of staff until the pre-school children move back in to the nursery.

Mrs Garnett-Clarke said: “We are very fortunate that we have very effective fire doors in the extension which prevented a lot more damage.

"When you drive into the car park the damage is very obvious so when the children do come back, we’re hoping to get one of the firemen to come in and talk to them about it."

Photo: Leicestershire Fire and Rescue