A STATE of the art £1.8 million media centre has been officially unveiled at Turton High School.

The work has been completed on a brand new two storey 25 classroom block at the school on Bromley Cross Road, featuring two IT rooms, a sixth form common room and dining area.

The development, partly sponsored by the Bolton Evening News, includes a video and editing suite and a conference room for 50 people. The facilities will be open to the public as well as the pupils.

Headteacher Frank Vigon said: "It is not just for the school, it is intended that the pupils can use the facilities during the day, and they will be available to the general public at the weekends and evenings.

"It is a rare opportunity that a school can boast such excellent up-to-date facilities. It is education at its finest, full of light, an exciting design and the best possible environment for learning.

"We have a very sophisticated IT system and state of the art equipment."

Education chiefs and the school worked closely together to secure the investment needed. Most of the funding for the project came from the Government's New Deal for schools budget and the school's success in achieving specialist school status as the first media arts college in the north helped secure further funding to create the media centre.

Cllr Linda Thomas, Bolton Council executive member for Education, described the project as a new chapter in the school's history and said she was very happy the LEA had been able to support the school.

"Pupils are delighted at the brand new media block," Mr Vigon said: "They are quite simply overwhelmed."