RELATIVES of pupils at a fire-ravaged primary school are calling for an investigation after an issue with water pressure was discovered by firefighters who rushed to the blaze.

St Dominic's Primary School in Airdrie is being demolished after the fire ripped through the building on Thursday.

Nearly 200 pupils will miss out on school next week. The youngsters will not return to classes until after the Easter holidays in three weeks time - and it not known where they will attend school.

Now families affected claim more could have been done to stop the blaze from spreading so quickly.

They have demanded answers after apparent problems with water supply issues when firefighters arrived on scene at 3.55pm on Thursday.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue service said they had requested an increase of the mains water supply from the hydrants on site from Scottish Water but this was not possible.

They said they were able to use water stored in their appliances.

Grahame Marshall, whose seven and 10-year-old grandchildren attend the school, is a local resident.

He praised fire crews for arriving on site so quickly, but he added: "As soon as I got there I saw the firefighters had problems getting water.

"They said the hydrants didn't have water. I had to direct them to other hydrants.

"It's a travesty because if they had managed to get more water onto the building sooner parts of it might have been saved.

"I'm not letting this go, we need to have an investigation and get to the bottom of this."

St Dominic's is next door to non-denominational school, Petersburn.

Mr Marshall said his daughter Shelley Lee Marshall, who is mum to the pupils at the school, was "traumatised" by the recent events.

He added: "We're a tight-knit community here and this has devastated us.

"We've lost a whole school. We're lucky that the wind wasn't blowing in the opposite direction because it would have burned down the school next to it."

Dozens of firefighters spent more than seven hours putting out the blaze.

North Lanarkshire Council announced the building was to be demolished yesterday.

It is understood that fire teams are looking into the water pressure issue.

When crews arrive at a fire they immediately use water from appliances, while team members look for hydrants to connect to the mains supply.

If the pressure is not high enough they can request that Scottish Water increase the pressure.

If they are not granted the request, crews look for nearby hydrants.

It can mean more appliances have to attend to provide water if there are problems with pressure.

A Fire and Rescue spokesman said: "Fire and Rescue attended at the scene and requested an increase of the mains water pressure, however this was not possible.

"Our appliances carry large volumes of water which crews used for the fire while a mains supply was established."

Labour MP Pamela Nash said: "I am aware that there are unconfirmed reports that firefighters were unable to access water from a fire hydrant near the school and have made enquiries about this with Scottish Water, North Lanarkshire Council and Scottish Fire and Rescue."

A Scottish Water spokesman said: "The fire service had access to water at all times and, as the incident went on, secured further supplies from an additional hydrant.

"Water flow and pressure was normal."