Planners have taken the wraps off a new £70m state-of-the-art college that will form the educational centrepiece of a massive regeneration plan.

The new Middlesbrough College will offer state-of-the-art education in an eye catching building as part of the Middlehaven regeneration masterplan in Middlesbrough.

The five storey building will have the capacity to house up to 17,000 students and 1,000 staff.

Covering 30,000 square metres the college will cater for a comprehensive variety of vocational qualifications as well as offering students the chance to study for their A-levels.

It has teamed up with Tees Valley Regeneration (TVR) to drive through the ambitious scheme, which is due to start next year and be completed in time for the student intake for 2008.

The new facility will replace the current multi-site set up with those locations being sold off to help pay for the new campus.

Middlesbrough College principal John Hogg said: "It will be excellent to offer the students everything on one site. They will have state-of-the-art facilities fitting for students to prepare for work life in the 21st century.

"We want future generations to look not just at a building but to what is truly Middlesbrough's college.

"It is an exciting opportunity, the college will offer excellent learning but it will look like a commercial venture with plenty of on site businesses like a travel agency, silver service restaurant and first class theatre and music venue."

Pam Eccles, executive director of Learning Skills Council Tees Valley, believes the college will rank amongst the most visionary and modern in the country.

She said: "We need to have top quality colleges in the area, that is what the students deserve and that is what we want to deliver. This new development will provide an excellent environment for learning."