ROWDEFORD School at Rowde, near Devizes, has taken delivery of a new £25,000 minibus, thanks to the Allied Dunbar Foundation.

Head teacher Glen Darnell said the new bus will help him and his staff deliver the planned curriculum to 85 pupils with learning difficulties.

He said: "It's our equivalent of winning the lottery. We have one decent minibus and two others which are now showing signs of wear and tear and desperately need replacing.

"It is essential to take the pupils out.

"For example, they are going around the bakery at Safeway supermarket this week to see how bread is made."

The gift of the minibus is just one way the community is helping to support the teaching at the semi-residential school.

Employees from the legal division of Zurich Insurance, a subsidiary of Allied Dunbar, recently redecorated the bathrooms in the residential block at the school, which were considered out-dated and institutional.

Mr Darnell said: "They have turned them into something warm and welcoming.

"They have worked in their own time at evenings and weekends."