A SCHOOL created out of a shake-up of primary education services in Spennymoor was opened yesterday.

The £1.34m development of North Park Primary School followed the controversial merger of the 12-year-old North Road Junior School and Bessemer Park Nursery and Infant schools last year.

The merged school is housed in extended premises on the former Bessemer Park site, where a new building links the old infant and nursery blocks.

Infant and junior accommodation is in two wings, with new classrooms, an information technology suite and a junior library.

The development, which will save the local education authority, Durham County Council, £130,000 a year, includes a new main entrance and new office space.

The then Education Secretary, David Blunkett, approved the merger two years ago when the schools had 339 places for 211 children.

Earlier, North Road school pupils Sarah Ball, then ten, and classmate Jade White had made a personal plea to Prime Minister Tony Blair to block the move, calling at 10 Downing Street to deliver a petition on their way back from a school trip to Paris.

North Road school's governors asked Mr Blunkett to send an independent adjudicator to examine the case for keeping it open. Governors at Bessemer Park Infant School also objected.

Once the decision was made, staff at all schools made efforts to help the children get to know their new classmates and headteacher Christine Clough is pleased that pupils have settled in.

She said: "The children who attend North Park Primary School can expect to receive an education which meets the needs of the 21st century.

"We have excellent facilities, particularly our purpose built ICT suite, well motivated, highly skilled teachers and friendly children, all encompassed in a warm and caring environment."

Councillor Neil Foster, who represents Tudhoe on Durham County Council and is the cabinet member for education, unveiled a plaque to mark the opening.

He said: "I firmly believe that this educational development will represent major benefits for pupils, both now and in future years."