A SWINDON College building destroyed in a major fire, which caused millions of pounds worth of damage, has re-opened to students after an extensive refurbishment.

The plumbing and construction training centre was reduced to little more than a steel frame when the blaze broke out on a Tuesday afternoon in January.

Students and staff were evacuated and some were treated for smoke inhalation during the incident, which also caused nearby gas canisters to explode.

But now after 16 weeks of contractors re-building the centre it was officially re-opened yesterday with the college’s principal Steve Wain cutting the ribbon.

He said: “The guys have done a fantastic job turning a dark, dirty burnt-out shell into a really wonderful facility that we are exceptionally proud of, and to do it ready for the start of term is great.”

Although the fire destroyed the building, staff and students quickly moved to a temporary workshop, set up with the help of donations from a number of employers, so learning was not disrupted.

Sam Bobs, 18, who is studying Level 1 plumbing, is impressed with the new centre.

He said: “It looks better and is more spread out and organised.”

Bradley Taylor, 16, added: “It’s very tidy now and a better learning environment.”

Recalling the day of the fire, Chris Pailor, operations manager, who has worked at the college for 31 years, said: “We just saw smoke coming out of the storeroom and we were running to the building.

“We had gas canisters exploding so within 20 minutes the building was really ablaze and we had thick black smoke billowing out everywhere. This went on for quite some hours into the morning. The next day we came to have a look around and it was a massive shock. The damage cost about £2.5million.

“Our job was to put the building back together again, so it’s fabulous to see the students coming back.”

The building, named Gemini, was first built in 2006 and has around 150 students.

Site manager Richard Jolliffe and quantity surveyor Graeme Blake from Barnwood Construction were also invited to the unveiling.

“From our point of view to do a project that is for construction people is really fitting,” said Richard.

“It is exactly like how it was when I did my apprenticeship many years ago.”