PUPILS at a Darwen primary school were today enjoying lessons in state-of-the-art classrooms following a campaign for new buildings which spanned 30 years.

Sudell Primary is the latest school in Blackburn with Darwen to benefit from cash to replace old mobile accommodation from a £2million handout.

The new building for children and staff, which was opened yesterday, has been funded with a grant of £457,000 from the Government's New Deal for School programme, which aims to replace temporary classrooms with permanent ones.

An old wooden structure had caused problems like rotting window frames, leaks, and heating break-downs for years. This was built about 60 years ago as a temporary craft room for the then Sudell Road Boys' Secondary School.

Now in its place is a new state-of-the-art building with six infants classrooms, a library, as well as office space for staff and a specially designed parents' room. The school's 180 infants are glad that cold walks across the yards are over, as the new block is connected to the existing main building.

Previously, children had to dash across the playground in all weathers to get from the old wooden building.

During the improvement programme, the main building was given a play area, an information technology suite, and a special needs classroom.

The school had been campaigning to get money for the improvements for 30 years. Laura Pooles, headteacher at Sudell Primary, said: "We are very proud of our school and the new building is fantastic.

"It has enhanced the learning environment enormously."

Mahfooz Hussain, executive member for education and lifelong learning said: "This is another example where we continue to attract external funding to improve and build new classrooms to ensure our children continue to make improvements in their education and enjoy learning in a clean and safe environment".