SCIENCE lessons are to be given a facelift thanks to a £500,000 investment at a North Yorkshire school.

Youngsters will be able to use the modern science laboratories at Bedale High School for the first time when they return after the Easter holidays.

The labs will enable the pupils to carry out their experiments in the correct environment instead of in makeshift classrooms.

Headteacher Dr John Critchlow, who retires in August after 18 years at the school, said: "We desperately needed the space and the new extension is absolutely great.

"We are very lucky to have this building in the first place, which makes us look more like a college than a school.

"It's much more than just a building - it is something which shows the people here that we value them and in curriculum terms it will make a real difference."

As well as the labs, the six-month building project has provided the school with a food and technology suite, two further classrooms and new toilets.

The three-storey extension is part of a £35m investment by North Yorkshire County Council's education service into the county's schools.

Others to benefit from the investment include Harrogate Grammar School, Tadcaster Grammar School, Giggleswick Primary School and a selection of village schools.

Councillor Chris Metcalfe, the county council's executive member for education, said: "This is typical of our drive to provide top quality accommodation for North Yorkshire children. This is part of our agenda for raising standards."

The facilities are expected to be a real boon for the burgeoning school population, which currently numbers 803.

They were opened by North Yorkshire's director of education, Cynthia Welbourn, along with Dr Critchlow, and chairman of governors Councillor Arthur Barker.

Miss Welbourn said: "Coming on top of the new £250,000 library and music room which the council built here a couple of years ago, this gives the school the specialist facilities it needs."

The project was designed by the county council's in-house architects. The contract was awarded to Allerton Construction, based in Leeds, and the rooms were fitted out by the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation.