West Dunbartonshire Council is to invest £17.5m in new schools and a childcare centre.

The projects include a new secondary school for children with special needs, two new primary schools and an early education and childcare centre.

The decision to proceed with the proposals was approved unanimously by councillors at the Educational Services Committee and will see new buildings provided for Kilpatrick Secondary School, Aitkenbar Primary School and St Peter's Primary School.

The latter will also house a new Early Education and Childcare Centre (EECC) to replace Andrew B Cameron EECC and St Peter's EECC.

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The buildings will all be constructed within current grounds.

Planners hope that keeping the new Kilpatrick Secondary School close to the existing Kilpatrick Primary School will help to create a campus environment for the pupils.

The proposals will see state-of-the-art education facilities around 600 pupils within three years and help to raise local attainment levels.

Councillor Michelle Stewart, Convener of Educational Services, said: "This significant investment clearly demonstrates our commitment to delivering first-class facilities for our young people. Our pupils deserve to be educated in modern schools with up to date equipment, with new technology that will help them achieve the best education possible. Today's decisions will ensure that we can deliver this, not only for our current pupils but for future generations."

(JP/MH)