A NEW £1.4million school sports facility in a rural area is unveiled tomorrow - and will be used by residents as well as pupils.

Grindleton's Bowland High, a school with Specialist Status in Performing Arts, received a £1.4m grant from the Big Lottery Fund to build the much-needed sports hall.

The facility will provide children and the community with a place to keep fit and, with funding help from Lancashire County Council, it will enable people in the area to keep active and healthy.

Bowland High head teacher Stephen Cox said the school and community were delighted with the new sports hall.

He said: "The sports hall will help meet the great demand for sports facilities and coaching in the community, raising standards of PE and sport and increasing participation in this rural area."

County Coun Alan Whittaker, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for schools, said: "Sport is vital to keeping people healthy and starting early - while children are at school - is the ideal way to keep them healthy through their lives.

"It contributes so much to personal development across the curriculum and builds confidence and clear self-expression."

Michelle McNamee, the Big Lottery Fund's head for the North West, said she believed the school was leading the way in providing access to high-quality sports facilities to thousands of users and developing a new role as a local hub for PE and sport.

The facility will be opened by Burnley FC manager Steve Cotterill at 2pm.