Hotel school to train thousands

Plans for a hotel to be run by students and their tutors in a County Durham town have been unveiled.

Darlington College is to become one of only a handful in the country to train the next generation of top chefs, restaurateurs and hotel staff.

It is to become a member of a National Skills Academy scheme and will train 65,000 pupils over the next five years.

The multi-million pound hotel and spa will be built next to the college and is due to open in 18 months.

The college's principal and chief executive, Sarah Robinson, said: "The country will have seen nothing like this before and it is going to be based first in Darlington.

"It is innovative, it is incredibly exciting and it is now down to us to deliver the next generation of hospitality experts in the most realistic setting possible."