A SECONDARY school stands to gain £75,000 to develop a state-of-the-art computer suite after winning a place in the finals of a prestigious competition.

Westhoughton High School has beat competition from 140 other schools across the country for a place in the final 30 contestants thanks to its innovative plans for Information, Computer and Technology.

The school has been working hard to raise funds for a new £500,000 ICT centre, but if they win the British Telecom competition they will be able to introduce even more courses and open up the building to the community in the evenings.

It is hoped the extra cash will allow the school to work in partnership with the Bolton Literacy Trust and use the centre as a base for courses ranging from basic literacy, numeracy and communication to advanced academic and vocational subjects.

There would also be an open-access community facility and laptop computers could be offered on a loan system to create "anytime anywhere learning".

A programme for establishing "community ICT champions" would also be put into place to provide computer experts to work with less experienced users.

The competition cash could also fund a creche facility to attract as many adults to return to learning as possible.

Assistant head teacher Ruth Bradbury who has been co-ordinating the school's ICT plans and fundraising, said: "We are extremely pleased to have got this far. A lot of research had to go into the bid and there's still more work to do before the next heats of the competition."

The school is also looking at other fundraising possibilities in case they are not successful in the competition.

The final winners will be announced on July 1.