A VILLAGE school is celebrating a £240,000 four-year development.

Parents and pupils of Thornton Watlass CE Primary School, near Bedale, attended the opening of a new library and resource room, toilet, office, foyer and outdoor play area.

A ribbon was cut by Jennifer Hare, who retired earlier this year as a dinner lady and teaching assistant after 35 years at the school, and the development was blessed by the Reverend Andrew Woodhouse, Rector of Thornton Watlass.

Finance for the development came through grant bids supported by North Yorkshire County Council, fundraising by the friends of the school and the Dodsworth Foundation, a local charity that helped to buy books and library shelving.

Adam Pritchard-Jenkins, the headteacher for the past four years, said: "The school governors had been working on the project before I arrived and it was something I took forward with them.

"People have even given books to the new library. The children are absolutely thrilled with the development.