NEW secondary schools for Caldicot and Monmouth will be open at the end of 2016 it has been revealed.

Monmouthshire County is about to begin consultations on an £80 million project for the new schools and improvements to nearby primary schools.

Plans for the new schools will be complete in July and  ready for submission for planning approval in August.

Construction is due to start in February 2015, with completion due at the end of 2016.

Cllr Liz Hacket Pain (Con, Wyesham), Cabinet Member for Schools and Learning,  said: "We're spending a lot of money on delivering the best possible schools to Monmouthshire. But we want more. So we have specified that 75 per cent of the project's supply chain is kept local, ensuring that the county receives the maximum benefit from this huge expenditure."

The council has also said the project to replace a significant section of Thornwell Primary School in Chepstow with a 21st Century Schools standard building will be completed ahead of schedule.

The building's fabric will be finished by the end of this term. It will then be furnished and equipped with  cutting-edge IT and pupils will move into the new building over the course of the summer term.

The council remains committed to rebuild Chepstow School and preliminary work has already begun as part of the engagement process around modernising all the county's schools.

Plans will be drawn up once construction work begins in Monmouth and Caldicot.