THE buyer of the old Darwen Technical School building has been revealed as an American company.

Burberry International, a firm which specialises in renovating large old buildings to lease to other companies, has bought the Union Street site for an undisclosed sum, believed to be £70,000 to £100,000.

Renovation plans have been released after work started on Tuesday. Ireland-based Galway Associates will oversee the project. Sandblasting began on a room at the back of the building which will be the architect's office. Classrooms, many of which have lain untouched since the school closed on July 1 1994, are being cleared out. All rooms are to be stripped out and sandblasted. Floors are to be levelled and suspended ceilings taken out. All windows and frames are to be replaced and railings will be repainted or replaced. All exterior walls are to be sandblasted. Doorways which have been bricked up, including one closed since the 1930s, will be re-opened. The old woodwork building behind main building will is included in the plan.

Councillor Derek Brindle, who alerted Burberry International to the building, said: "It's all systems go. The building is already looking better inside. I can not wait until the work is done and the building is up and running."

He also said developments had captured the town's imagination. Former Technical School pupils from as far away as Australia have spoken to Coun Brindle wanting information and copies of Boxing Day's Lancashire Evening Telegraph, which broke the news.

Galway Associates are to apply to the council for a change of use for the building.