THE dramatic fire at Magdalen College School has made it more difficult for its Master Dr Tim Hands to leave, he admitted yesterday.

On Mondayhe revealed his decision to step down as Master of the independent school in East Oxford to take up headship of Winchester College from September 2016.

The announcement, made by chairman of governors Tim Edwards, came just weeks after a blaze broke out in the school's drama office.

At its height, on the evening of June 16, more than 60 firefighters fought the blaze to stop it spreading from offices, the school gym and sports hall.

Father-of-two Dr Hands, 59, said the reaction to the fire demonstrated the spirit of the school and made his decision to leave “more difficult”.

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He said: “The fire came in the middle of my deliberations.

“The fire showed the spirit of the school – the next morning we were operating almost as normal – a huge team rallied round.

“The fire will forever be in my memory but it’s not a negative one, it’s a positive one and a lot of parents have written in to say that.”

He said the school had not yet been told the cause of the blaze.

Dr Hands said there was still “plenty to do” before he takes on his new role, including overseeing the construction of a new £7m sixth form building.

“I certainly won’t be putting my feet up,” he said.

Dr Hands added: “We have a bigger junior school, a bigger sixth form with girls coming in, and I think we are a more prominent player in the community than we were.

“I will be extremely sad to leave this place and extremely sad to leave the city.”

The best thing about MCS, the Master added, was its pastoral care.

He said: “It is a gentle school with excellent pupil-staff relations – that is its strongest feature and parents will tell you that.”

Mr Edwards said: “Although the school has Tim’s services for a further academic year we shall, of course, be very sorry to lose him.

“We wish Tim very well with his move when the time for that comes around.”

Mr Edwards said that the process of identifying a successor was already under way.