PUPILS can look forward to being educated closer to home thanks to a new school in Burnley.

Plans for a new secondary school for children with a range of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties has been approved by the school organisation committee, a Lancashire County Council sub-committee.

The 40-place school will be created on the site of what is currently Cherry Fold Primary School, in Swindon Street, and is expected to open in summer 2005.

At present, pupils who need this type of school have to travel out of the area and often have to attend independent schools or schools in a different LEA.

Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for education, Alan Whittaker, said: "The new school will significantly improve the provision in East Lancashire and reduce the need for pupils to travel outside the area.

"Educating children away from home can be very expensive and means there is no way of enabling them to access specialist facilities in local schools on a regular basis. We are keen to educate the next generation of pupils nearer home as it helps them and their families so much."

The new school will predominantly cater for pupils from Burnley but will also offer places to young people from Pendle, Rossendale, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley. The existing school will be extensively re-modelled to provide for the curriculum needs of its new pupils with work expected to start towards the end of this year. It is an interim measure and will eventually be relocated as part of the 'Building Schools for the Future' bid.

Pupils from the current Cherry Fold Primary School will move into a new building this summer.