The £500,000 project, which opened earlier this year, saw the removal of the red blaes pitches at the back of the school and replaced with a new dedicated sports area.

It features a three-court arena surrounded by a 200m five lane running track and two 70m sprint straights.

Delegates from UK athletics and Scottish Athletics visited the venue on Wednesday 28 September and were clearly impressed with what they saw.

Ed Hunt, Facilities Manager with UK athletics, praised the council’s approach, saying: “The 200m mini-track at St Maurice’s is a great example of innovation and is a perfect model for school and community use.

“It’s a really inspiring environment and a brilliant facility; we’d like to see lots of similar developments created across the UK.”

Two of the courts are for basketball, built to NBA specification size with adjustable height hoops. The other area will be for handball, hockey, and football.

A new grass football pitch is also included as part of the overall project.

Councillor Angela Campbell, Convener of Education, Families and Children, said: “It was great to welcome UK athletics to North Lanarkshire Council to highlight our approach to creating new multi-use sports facilities for school and community use.

“The development at St Maurice’s is just one of a number of projects we have in the pipeline, with others including Woodlands in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth Primary and a new four lane running track at Airdrie Leisure Centre.”

In 2021 a new park - The Craig - was opened at the centre of the former Ravenscraig steelworks site next to the regional sports facility.

It features a range of sports and play activities for local people to enjoy.

Facilities include a 400m loop track and 400m free-form track for walking, running and cycling.