PARENTS and pupils can access week-by-week updates on the development of Darlington's pioneering education village.

The borough council has set up a web link on its site, www.darlington.gov.uk, for people to track the progress of the £34.9m project being built on the playing fields at Haughton Community School.

Three schools - Haughton, Beaumont Hill Special School and Springfield Primary School - are to be brought together on the site, where 1,900 students will be taught.

The development will also include a nursery and an early learning centre.

The council's cabinet member for education, Councillor Stephen Harker, said: "By accessing the website, local people and those from around the country and, indeed, the world, can see just what is going on here in Darlington."

The virtual reality site can be accessed by clicking on to "resident of Darlington" on the home page, then on to "education", "school management services" then "education village".