A COLLEGE has taken a step into the future with the completion of an ambitious £1m expansion programme.

For the last 15 months an intensive programme of building work has been under way at Northallerton College.

The project has now given the college twenty-first century teaching and learning facilities for its still-growing population of 1,000 full-time and 2,000 part-time students.

The new classroom block will be officially opened early next month by Tyne Tees TV personality Andy Kluz. The new block comprises eight classrooms, and was designed by local architects Michael Severs Associates in collaboration with the college's own staff.

College vice-principal John Kelly was in charge of the scheme and he described the new block as an exciting place to work and study.

"It will help us keep pace with the growth of a successful college," he added.

The extension is mainly dedicated to teaching mathematics and has been integrated into a wing of the college - which has also seen the refurbishment of a science laboratory and multi-media computer suite.

The work was funded jointly by North Yorkshire County Council and the college itself and was the second phase of a larger development project.

Two classrooms had to be demolished to make way for the new block which is at the north end of the campus, almost opposite the Tesco store on East Road.