PLANS for a £2.9m school in Darlington have been announced, days after it was revealed that a new education village is to be created in the town.

The new school will replace Alderman Leach Primary School and will accommodate 315 pupils and have 26 nursery places.

Unlike the scheme announced earlier this week, which will be funded by private and public funds, public money alone will pay for the Alderman Leach school, with £1.3m coming from the Department for Education and Skills, following a bid by Darlington Borough Council.

The rest of the funding will be provided by the council and will allow the current school to be demolished and replaced with a modern building at a site yet to be determined, although a rebuild on the current site is a possibility.

Alderman Leach infant and junior schools were amalgamated in 2000 to form Alderman Leach Primary School.

The school building needs considerable repair work to bring it up to standard, including replacement windows, rewiring and replacement of the boiler.

The school's outdated electrical system has caused problems for pupils using computers as part of the National Curriculum.

Disabled pupils have also encountered problems at the school with steps leading into most of the classrooms, restricting easy access.

Eleanor Lister, the council's cabinet member for education, said: "The replacement of Alderman Leach Primary School will bring tremendous benefits for the staff and pupils at the school, and it supports our drive to raise educational standards.

"Along with our recent success in securing £21.7m for the education village project at Haughton, and the £2.1m to replace Firthmoor Primary School, it further highlights the council's commitment to improve education and schools."

The council will begin consultations with parents and governors on the development of the new school in the coming weeks.

The announcement of the new building came in the same week as Alderman Leach Primary School received a Government award to recognise its examination results improvement.

The school's staff were awarded £6,300 from the School Achievement Awards because of the improvement in GCSE results.

A council spokesman said the site and time-scale for the new development will be decided after the consultation process has been completed