Skipton Girls' High School pupils have no excuse for not taking part in this year's Great North Run.

The brains behind the 13-mile event and former Olympic athlete, Brendan Foster, was at the school on Wednesday opening its new gym.

The £10,000 fitness suite, to be named after Mr Foster, includes rowers, treadmills and steppers.

Mr Foster said the facilities were a far cry from fitness equipment he had when he was at school.

"They can come in here after school or at lunchtime and use state-of-the-art machines," he said.

Director of expressive arts and PE Fiona McMillan said the fitness suite had been in the pipeline for two years.

She said it was especially good for older pupils who did not have compulsory PE lessons and it would give the girls greater confidence in joining gyms once they left school.

The school's Parent Teacher Association raised half the money for the gym.

Chairman Paul Weeks explained they had raised £5,000 through events such as the Easter raffle and Christmas bazaar.

He said PTA members chose to support the gym as it would enhance pupils' fitness.

The purpose of Mr Foster's visit to the school was two-fold.

He is chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University, and along with vice-chancellor Professor Simon Lee, headteacher Janet Renou and chairman of the governors John Goodfellow, signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the university and the school.

This means the two institutions are committed to working together.

o Skipton Girls' High School technology students will embark on a tour of the Gargrave factory of Johnson and Johnson on Monday.

The visit has been arranged with the help of The Industrial Trust and the Drapers Livery Company.