A £43 million project to build new school and leisure facilities in Ponteland, Northumberland, has celebrated a key milestone.

Contractor Kier was joined by guests from Northumberland County Council, Active Northumberland, Ponteland Primary School and Ponteland High School to mark the completion of the development's steel frame.

This milestone follows the complete installation of the precast concrete components and the installation of the structural slabs getting underway.

Once complete, the Ponteland development will feature a 1,600 pupil secondary school, a 420-pupil primary school, a 52-place nursery, a leisure centre with six lane swimming pool and height adjustable floor, a spa and a gym, as well as a soft play area, clip 'n' climb activity centre, library and café, creating a new hub for the whole community.

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Phil McDowell, operations director of Kier Regional Building North-East England, said: "We are delighted to be marking this major milestone in the delivery of these fantastic facilities for the community in Ponteland.

"We are working closely with our project partners to ensure these facilities open as planned in Summer 2020 and benefit the community and young people for years to come."

Councillor Wayne Daley, Northumberland County Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for children's services, added: "It was great to visit the site for this significant milestone in what is one of the largest developments ever delivered by Northumberland County Council.

"It will provide two fantastic new schools plus state-of-the-art leisure and community and sports facilities which I am sure the people from Ponteland and surrounding communities will love.

"The council is proud of what is one of its largest ever capital programmes with schemes to boost the county's economy, improve education prospects for all and create new infrastructure for the future, with around £142m being spent on schools in a three-year period."

Leisure charity Active Northumberland will manage the leisure centre aspects of the project once complete. 

(CM/MH)