SCHOOLS across the whole of the Fylde were celebrating yesterday with the announcement they are to get not one, but two multi-million pound grants to help improve education facilities in the region.

The money should not only see class sizes reduced, but also repairs to many ailing school buildings.

Blackpool schools are set to receive more than £1.6m to help with essential maintenance work as part of phase 4 of the New Deal for Schools spearheaded by Education Secretary David Blunkett.

This represents an increase of almost half a million pounds on last year's maintenance grant.

Schools have already put in bids for cash to deal with problems such as lack of insulation and deteriorating classrooms. A large proportion of the money will also go on replacing temporary classrooms and on rewiring old schools and installing heating and boiler systems in others. The grant is just a small part of the £88 million that more than 700 schools in the North West are set to benefit from.

Mr Blunkett said: "I know that parents, teachers and pupils will all welcome this investment in education. The money will be used to bring schools into a modern and fit state to support higher standards."

Meanwhile Fylde Coast schools also heard yesterday they are on the receiving end of an astounding £18.5 million grant in a bid to reduce classroom sizes.

The money is expected to be channelled towards primary schools in a bid to reduce the number of pupils in each class, but some is expected to go on urgent school repairs.

The county has received more cash than any other authority to be distributed between 130 schools throughout Fylde and Wyre. Most of the money will go on providing classrooms to reduce the average number of pupils in a class to less than 30 as part of a pledge made by the Government.

Essential repair work will also take place and this will include work on windows and any roofing work that needs to be done.