A College has secured millions of pounds in funding for a new purpose-built site.

Darlington College of Technology has been given £13m by the Learning and Skills Council towards the £33m development in Haughton Road, near the town centre.

It will also use profits from the sale of its sites at Cleveland Avenue and Larchfield Street for housing development to fund the scheme.

A planning application will be lodged with Darlington Borough Council early next month and, if approved, construction work will start in the autumn. The 16-acre complex is expected to be completed in June 2006, opening the following September.

College principal Sarah Farley said last night: "We are delighted to confirm that the funding is now in place to develop what will be the most exciting educational development in the area in decades.

"The new campus will comprise state-of-the-art facilities to give the community a first-class education and training facility."

Pam Eccles, executive director of the Learning and Skills Council Tees Valley, said: "This is a major investment in the future of learning in Darlington and in the Tees Valley as a whole."

The college site forms part of a redevelopment by Tees Valley Regeneration of 75 acres of former railway sidings between Haughton Road and the town's main railway station.

Joe Docherty, chief executive of the regeneration group, said: "This is a major step forward for the development of this site, which has the potential to provide major investment opportunities.

"We will shortly be appointing master planners to realise our vision for the site, which also includes offices, possibly hotel and conference facilities, urban parkland and, perhaps, new housing."

The campus will include a centre for 14 to 19-year-olds and a higher education centre in partnership with the University of Teesside and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College. There will be a sports and leisure complex featuring a football development centre, a food court and restaurant, hair and beauty salons, and centres for health and child care, technology and media