A secondary school built with private sector money opens next year after a

30-year wait.

Peacehaven Community School has been built under the Private Finance Initiative and will be maintained until 2026 by the firm which services buildings at Gatwick Airport.

The day it finally opens at the start of the next school year in September will be an important day for families in the area who have campaigned for a secondary school for years.

But the day has even greater importance for officers at East Sussex County Council who have spent years trying to satisfy changing Government criteria to let them build it.

The school is one of the largest projects of its kind in the country.

Unlike other state schools, it has been built with money from a private company rather than the Government under PFI.

Matt Dunkley, assistant director of education at East Sussex County Council, said it would have been impossible to build it any other way.

He said: "The council had been trying since the Sixties to build this school with public money but failed on every attempt.

"By using private finance, our hands have been untied and we have been able to provide much more."

Local authorities are restricted by Government controls on public sector borrowing from banks. PFI was introduced by the previous Conservative government as a means of building high capital projects while reducing the national debt and thereby keeping inflation under control.

Local capital intensive projects like building new schools and hospitals have a large impact on the national economy because any borrowing by councils is added to the national debt.

To qualify for public funding, a council has to prove there are not enough school places for children living in the catchment area.

In Peacehaven, all pupils needing a secondary school place have one. Most have to travel by bus to schools in Lewes, Brighton and Newhaven.

This made conventional funding impossible so the council turned to the private sector instead. In March, it signed a contract with a group of private businesses and a bank under the name of Peacehaven Schools Ltd (PSL).

PSL won the council's £30 million tender to build the secondary school, improve the buildings of four feeder primaries and run all five maintenance contracts for 25 years.

It will make money out of the scheme, but project manager Greg Sherriff insisted the profit margins were small.

He said: "No business can operate in the private sector without making a profit but I understand why people may be suspicious.

"If it had been built with public money, the contractors employed by the council would have made a profit."

PSL is made up of a group of a specialist companies, including builders and highways consultants who have tabled a £1 million scheme to improve road safety around the schools.

Drake and Skull, the firm which services buildings at Gatwick Airport, will be responsible for maintenance of the buildings for 25 years.

It has set response times, starting from 30 minutes, to solve problems which could affect the pupils' schooling. Its responsibilities range from changing lightbulbs and heating repairs to replacing broken chairs and ordering desks.

Headteacher Fiona Wright, currently in charge of Hampden Park Secondary School in Eastbourne, said the new business-like approach would allow her and her staff, who will remain council employees, to focus on teaching.

She said: "Headteachers spend a lot of time making difficult decisions about spending a school's limited resources and, in effect, at times are business managers.

"All those worries will be taken away from me and I will return to the traditional role of a headteacher.

"It is exciting to be part of something which will attract local and national attention because it is innovative."

When Peacehaven Community School opens its doors to its first term in September council officers and other authorities like NHS trusts will be watching closely to see whether it is a success and to assess if PFIs could be used to fund other public buildings.