TWO years after the tragic death of a three-year-old girl on a slide, York College is demolishing its former nursery to make way for a new £6 million construction skills centre.

The nursery on the Sim Balk Lane campus was closed down after Lydia Bishop died in September, 2012, when she caught her neck in a rope on the nursery slide.

The college was fined £175,000 plus prosecution costs of £45,453 earlier this year for failure to ensure the safety of children at the nursery.

Louise Lawrence-Crockford, deputy principal for resources, said the college’s new construction centre, which will teach skills including bricklaying, plastering and joinery, will use the site of the nursery.

But she stressed: “This does not mean we will forget the devastating events of that time and Lydia and her family will stay in our memories.

“We continue to do all we can to learn from the tragedy and our thoughts will always be with those affected by that terrible time.”

She said the college had been planning for a new development over the last six years and was now in a position to use the site positively to benefit future generations of students.

“The college’s construction students will move from the current centres at Osbaldwick to the new purpose built construction centre in September 2015, where they will be better placed to participate in the college community as a whole,” she said.

“The new facility will meet the students’ needs and those of the construction industry at a time when there is a shortage of skills in this area.”

Planners gave the go-ahead for the centre in July, despite warnings that it would take up 40 of the college’s car parking spaces, 14 motorbike spaces, and four disabled spaces, possibly leading to problems for residents.

Council officials and the college’s representatives argued the college’s car park would still provide ample spaces for students and staff.