THE main phase of a £10m project to transform a secondary school in Hartlepool begins tomorrow.

A school is to be built to accommodate St Hild's Church of England Voluntary Aided School, which at present has sites on either side of King Oswy Drive.

The school's former buildings on the southern side have already been demolished.

At 1.30pm tomorrow, Canon David Whittington, director of education for the Durham Diocese, will take the controls of a mechanical digger to cut the first sod for the new building.

The new building will include classrooms, technology and computer suites, laboratories, a library and an art room.

Also included in plans for the two-storey structure will be a main hall, dining hall and a sports hall which can be converted into one large function area by opening partitions electronically.

Featuring domed roofs and a stained-glass window in the mail hall, the building will also have an outdoor ampitheatre which can be used for lessons.

It is hoped that the building, which has received money from the Government's fund for church schools, will be ready by next summer