A new special needs free school with sensory garden, sports facilities and animal enclosure will launch in September, two years after it was originally due to open its doors.

The Raise Academy in Widnes will take 64 pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties from across Halton and St Helens. Construction at the site on Naylor Road has been well underway for several months with recruitment for a deputy headteacher now taking place, with the plan being to open in September.

As well as a 2,096 sq m building, the project also includes a multi-use games area and sports pitches which could be opened up for community use out of hours.

The scheme had been given the green light in 2022 with the intention of opening in September that year, but it was pushed back until 2023, and subsequently pushed back a further year.

School bosses said at the time there had been some ‘building issues’ and that they had looked at using temporary classrooms until the building was finished, but that idea was shelved.

The school’s website said: "The school will provide a calm, safe and welcoming environment for pupils that might have struggled to succeed in traditional educational settings."

It will be run by Congleton-based Youth Engagement School Trust on behalf of the Department for Education and will take pupils aged 11-16.

On the website, the school's headteacher Paul Eager, said: "Through the ability to offer an individualised and personalised, engaging curriculum, delivered by specialists, we have the chance to make a real difference and affect change in a special group of young people, their families and the wider local community."

The near four-and-a-half acre site is bordered by Naylor Road and Castle Street, with Fiddlers Ferry Road to the south. The area has been designated for educational use in Halton’s Delivery and Allocations Local Plan.