A NEW £500,000 vocational training centre has opened at a north Durham school.

Students, parents, teachers, staff and governors at Durham Community Business College (DCBC) attended the official opening on the school site, in Ushaw Moor, near Durham, on Wednesday.

The centre was created out of a redundant gym. It provides facilities for training of bricklaying, plastering, painting, decorating and plumbing.

There is also an ICT suite with 30 computers suitable for digital animation and Internet access.

The centre will cater for youngsters from five secondary schools during the day and offer adult courses on evenings.

The facility was paid for by DCBC, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DSCF) and regional development agency One North East. The refurbishment was carried out by the Esh Group.

DCBC chief executive Anne Lakey said: "Esh Group has done a tremendous job, working to a bespoke design brief to create a multi-use resource that enhances the training available to all young people in the area and for adults from the community."

Centre manager Ted Hogkiss said: "Having such a magnificent centre right in the middle of Ushaw Moor is fantastic.

"Learners are very keen to study here. They recognise what a great place it is and how good the facilities are."

Esh Group director Michael Hogan, who attended Wednesday's ceremony with colleague Jack Lumsden, said: "Jack and I are delighted to have been invited here today to mark this important occasion.

"We’re both very proud to see the result of our company’s work and we thank the college for having the vision to have set out to create this superb facility.

"We are local and we are passionate about supporting people in the area and their communities.

"We urge everyone to come and make the very best use of the centre. Our wish is that you buckle down, work hard and become the very best you can be."

DCBC, formerly Deerness Comprehensive School, is now part of the Durham Federation, with Fyndoune Community College, in Sacriston.

It recently received almost £1.5m from the Big Lottery Fund for a new four-court sports hall. Last year, its students won the annual Future Business Magnates contest.

For more information on the college, call 0191-373-0336.