MAJOR expansion work will see a village school expand by a third.

Locking Primary School is set to increase from 315 pupil places to 420 if the project is approved by North Somerset councillors next month.

The main drive behind the decision comes from the expanding Locking Parklands housing development, as 34 homes at the former RAF site have already gone on the market. That number is set to increase to 1,500 over the next few years, greatly increasing the need for extra school places.

North Somerset Council’s director of children and young people’s services, Sheila Smith, has signed off the expansion, which may see �100,000 from Parklands developer St Modwen Homes earmarked for pre-construction expenditure.

Following the start of the development, St Modwen has released a total of �315,000 for the specific use of delivering more pupil places at Locking Primary.

The decision will now need to be approved by North Somerset’s children and young people services policy and scrutiny panel, which will meet on March 29, before the expansion can go ahead.

School headteacher Joanne Jones said: “Locking school is currently in negotiations with North Somerset regarding the expansion and return to a larger school in our drive to accommodate more children due to the increase in population.

“This is an exciting project which we hope will provide additional facilities and resources for all children who attend our fantastic school.”

A spokesman for the council said: “We are currently reviewing primary school places in the Weston area due to the large amount of residential development.

“Some proposals will be coming forward in March to address the anticipated deficit of places. We are unable to give any more information at this stage.”