A half a million pound special unit for pupils from throughout Dorset with complex communication needs has been approved for a Puddletown School

The building, at St Mary’s Middle School, was given planning consent at a meeting this week.

Dorset councillors on the area planning committee, meeting in Sturminster Newton on Wednesday, unanimously backed the modular classroom unit.

Four additional parking spaces will also be provided for the extra staff which will be needed to run the unit for ten children. It will be connected to the main school via a glazed corridor.

The new classroom will be installed on a grassed area to the front southeast corner of the school. It will be constructed of vertical timber cladding under a flat grey metal roof. The windows will be blue to match the rest of the school buildings.