WORK on one of the region's biggest investments in education in recent years begins next week.

Sir Paul Nicholson, Lord Lieutenant of Durham, will lay the first stone of a five-acre campus complex for Derwentside College, in Consett.

It is hoped the £6.5m development on the site of the town's former steelworks will become one of the leading education and training centres in the north when it is completed next year.

The new college building, in Consett, will include a science block, leisure complex, learning resource centre, refectory and classrooms. There will also be a car park.

The college received planning permission last April and was said by town planners to have a "striking" appearance and would dominate the area around Berry Edge Road.

Money for the project has come from the Government's Further Education Funding Council and the college.

More than 15 letters of objection were received by Derwentside District Council from residents worried about traffic problems, but permission was granted last April.

The development has been hailed by the council as a boost for the Project Genesis site - the town's economic generation area, located at the former steelworks site.

Derwentside College is also developing a £2m sixth form centre in nearby Lanchester. The first intake of A-level students at the centre improved results by seven per cent. Other Derwentside College centres, at Chester-le-Street and Stanley, are also being refurbished.

Principal of Derwentside College David Houpt said: "I am sure the new college will build on the successes of the past and present a valuable resource for the people of the area."

Derwentside College employs about 300 staff and has 900 full-time and 9,000 part-time students on its roll.

The Lord Lieutenant will be joined by Mr Houpt, the chairman of the governors, Tony Edwards, and the leader of Derwentside District Council Alex Watson as he lays the first stone on at the site on Monday