MORE than 70 years of tradition have come to an end at a Blackburn primary school -- and teachers couldn't be happier!

For the first time in the history of Audley Infants and Junior School, pupils and staff will not have to face all weathers and a daily half-mile walk just to get to the canteen.

And pupils also said an anything-but-fond farewell to a row of temporary classrooms which the overcrowded school had been forced to use.

Around £800,000 has been spent on creating a new dining and kitchen area at the Audley schools, which are in the same building but operate separately.

The new dining facility is something Infants' headteacher Susan Grimshaw has been campaigning for since she arrived in Queen's Park Road 12 years ago.

She said: "It has been anything but ideal. Every day, pupils from the junior and infant schools would have to put on their coats and trudge across to the other side of the field, just to get their lunch.

"This has made such a difference to us. Behaviour for one thing has improved, and the children are much happier. The welfare and kitchen staff love it. They now have brand new equipment which works!"

Three new classrooms have been created, with a fourth on the way. The project has been funded by the New Deal for Schools Government scheme, and yesterday was officially opened by Foreign Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw.

David Whalley, a teacher in the junior school, said: "This school dates back to the 1930s and there has never been a dining room in the same building. We just had this ancient building which children had to use every day.

"It simply wasn't acceptable for them to get soaking wet, just to get their lunch or eat their packed sandwiches.

"Seeing the mobile classrooms go as well is a good thing. They were freezing cold in winter and boiling hot in summer.

"At the same time, we have been able to reduce class sizes by having more classrooms, so numbers have fallen from around 36 to 25, and that will raise standards.

"We have been able to resolve several issues at once and, for us, it is very good news."

The new hall will be used for drama as well and for the first time enable the whole school to have assemblies together. Next year, work begins on a new arts and sports facility, underwritten by the Government's New Opportunities Fund.