CIVIL engineering firm Greenfield has won contracts worth £2m to carry out site preparation and groundwork for two schools.

The first contract, awarded by the Durham Diocesan Board of Education, involves three months of earthworks at the £8.7m Venerable Bede Church of England School in Ryhope, Sunderland.

A further nine months will be spent constructing foundations and installing drainage for the site.

The school, for 900 pupils, is expected to be completed by July next year.

Greenfield, of Greenfield Farm, Cornsay, is carrying out a similar contract at a £12m schools community campus at Ingleby Barwick, which will also take a year to complete.

Work has already started on the 75,000sq ft development, which will include primary and secondary schools for 800 pupils, together with a nursery unit and community library.

The job, a PFI contract, was awarded to Greenfield by Robertson Construction.

Colin Redpath, managing director of Greenfield, said: "We were delighted to win both contracts, from two separate clients, based on our reputation for providing high quality and best value civil engineering services to both the public and private sectors."

Greenfield has invested more than £600,000 in new plant and equipment over the past year, steadily expanding its services.