TWO hundred parents and children carrying bricks and balloons for-med a procession through Cradley on Bank Holiday Monday.

The procession took them from a barbecue at the present school to the field across the village where work on a new school will begin later this month.

Rev Mike Vockins, chairman of the fundraising committee, said: "We had a super day. We intended it to be a fun way to let the village know we have started our fundraising programme, and it proved to be just that.

"Everyone seems to have enjoyed it and enjoyed being part of an historic occasion."

David Townsend, the school's headmaster, dug the first turf.

He said: "This is a memorable and historic day for all of us, and it's one I have looked forward to very keenly.

"We can all now look ahead to our meeting here again in 2004 for the opening of our new school."

To round off the event, the bricks carried to the new school site were built as a circular wall ready to be incorporated into the new school's foundations.

The children then let off their balloons for a balloon race.