INVESTMENT in education in the Tees Valley by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) will pass the £50m mark this year.

Since 2001, the LSC has spent £27m in the Tees Valley, with another £29m approved.

Of the £29m, £24m has been approved for the Middlesbrough College development.

The LSC has funded £1.8m of the £4.6m phase two of the Stockton Riverside College.

In Darlington, the £34.5m move of Darlington College of Technology is being funded with £13m of LSC money.

Pam Eccles, executive director of LSC Tees Valley, said: "These three projects will help bring learning in the Tees Valley firmly into the 21st Century."