THE countdown has begun in Bidford to start building the village's new £2.6million school.

Signs are expected to go up this week for a new school building at Bidford-on-Avon CofE Primary School. The building will incorporate a new nursery school, a village meeting room and a library on a greenfield site off Wilkes Way.

The project, which is being funded by Warwickshire County Council, has been in the pipeline for three years, but is only now about to become reality.

It is not yet known who will develop the site, but work is expected to begin in June and is scheduled to be completed by August 2002.

County councillor Brian Slaughter says the project stemmed from an idea that he and parish council chairman William Moore came up with as the parish council had been looking for a permanent place to hold its meetings.

He said: "The new project is great news for Bidford, especially the library, as the people of Bidford have been waiting for one in the village for ages," he said.

"The old library closed down when the landlord refused to renew the lease on it about 20 years ago.

"Having the new library on the same site as the school will make it much more beneficial for the children and their parents."

He added: "The school is a big asset to the village and everyone is quite excited about the project.

"The new classrooms will feature better facilities and bring the school right up to date," he added.

The existing school on Victoria Road will be demolished and the site used for housing.