Like a phoenix from the flames, the fire-ravaged Park Grove Primary School will begin its rise from the ashes in a matter of days.

Some 16 months after the inferno which ripped through the Dudley Street-based primary school, the long awaited £2.1 million pound refit will get under way when contractors move onto the site on Friday.

The work to transform the charred remains of the old building into a school fit for the new Millennium will begin in earnest on the following Monday.

The rebuild will keep most of the original school building with its historic turrets and facade.

But it will also include a large extension with two new halls and a nursery.

One of the halls will be used as a dining room and for assemblies.

The other will be used as a gym and as a sports facility open to the wider community.

The 'new' school will be completed next July and reopened in September 1999.

The designs were drawn up following an extensive consultation with parents, residents, staff and the City of York Council.

Park Grove School pupils have been taught at Queen Anne School since the blaze last February - the biggest in York since the Minster fire in 1984.

Assistant director of education for the council Philip Wells said: "It is terrific news that at last the rebuilding will begin.

"It really will be a fantastic building when it is finished.

"Although it will look very similar from the outside it will be very different on the inside with all the up-to-date community facilities."

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