The King's School has opened its new £5m sports and events facility.

Officially launching as the school commences its 525-year anniversary celebrations, the two-storey sports hub has been funded through the substantial legacy of a former pupil and benefactor, Roy Forster.

The Forster Pavilion is located at the centre of the school's hockey, netball and junior football pitches and features a wrap-around viewing balcony and 250-square metre hospitality suite.

Director of sport, Chris Thomson said: "The pavilion has been enabled by the foresight and generous offering of a former pupil that has supported the school's strategic development programme.

"Mr Forster was an avid sportsman, and his donation has allowed us to create an outstanding facility for our pupils and families, and beyond that even, to our wider community partners.

"We have already seen its use in games lessons, for our first parents' coffee morning and even to host a touring hockey team from Argentina.

"The multitude of opportunities to expand our community reach and to provide a central hub for fantastic sport facilities is being realised, and we are really excited to see the space form its own identity within our campus."

The first floor of the Forster Pavilion provides an ideal venue for events, presentations and conferences and spectator use, with full audio-visual capability, two separate meeting rooms and comprehensive kitchen and catering provision.

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Meanwhile, the ground floor encompasses two large and two smaller changing rooms with showers to accommodate up to 200 pupils, plus five individual changing rooms allocated for match officials and staff.

The building is also fully accessible throughout, including a lift and accessible changing facilities.

On top of this, the roof has been fitted with solar panels as part of the school's commitment to sustainability.

Current regular users of the school's astro pitches include both Macclesfield and Alderley Edge Hockey Club, as well as Alderley United FC and many other local sports clubs.