New Devon college plans on track

The new college is being built with £44m of government funding

The multi-million pound redevelopment of a north Devon college has reached the half-way point in its construction.

Bideford College is the first college in the county to secure funding from the government's Building Schools for the Future programme.

The college is being built on the same site as the existing one, which will be demolished once the new building is completed.

The project is expected to be finished by July next year.

Local employment

The designers of the college building say they have worked closely with the construction company to maximise the project's green credentials.

There is a woodchip biomass boiler and natural materials have been used where possible.

There has also been a policy of employing local people on site.

According to Martin Kennedy from construction company Morgan Ashurst, about two-thirds of the 150 contractors working on the project are from the local area.

"One of our most important priorities is to try to get local contractors on the job and we're very successful in that," he said.

"At the moment we've got about 150 people on site and over 100 of those are north Devon people."