A SCHOOL'S campaign to become a centre for business and enterprise education has been launched with support from Darlington MP Alan Milburn.

Branksome School, in the town, needs to raise £50,000 by September to submit its bid, which it hopes will aid the community, as well as the school.

The launch, in a marquee at the school on the site where a business centre will be built, should the bid be successful, was also attended and supported by BBC TV Look North presenter John Lawrence, who left the school in 1979.

If the bid is successful, the school will be awarded £100,000 of Government cash.

It is hoped the £50,000 target can be hit with a mixture of donations from the public and local businesses, as well as sponsored events. The campaign follows the school's receipt of a second School Achievement Award from the Government.

Headteacher Linda Hartley said at the campaign launch: "We have achieved success on all fronts. I'm very, very proud of the team here.

"Specialist school status is our next aim.

"What we would like to be is a hub of the community. We want resources here in place, so not only does it improve what we can provide for our own pupils, but what we can provide for the local community."

Mr Milburn said: "This is a school that, in my view, is really going places.

"I think specialist school status will be very, very important for Branksome School indeed."

A group of pupils from the school have already shown their capability in the world of business by winning the award for the most environmentally friendly company in the Tees Valley Young Enterprise awards, held last week.

They ran their own business, called the Tweety Pie Bird Supply Company, of which Mr Milburn was a shareholder, for a year, designing, making and selling bird boxes and related items