​Education chiefs have bowed to pressure to find extra classroom places for young children in Bath.

Council managers had planned for the expansion of Newbridge Primary School for the 2012 academic year in response to changes in the birth rate.

But parents had complained that action was needed sooner than that to cope with a surge in demand for places at the start of the next academic year in September.

They said siblings of existing pupils had squeezed out even families who lived within a third of mile of the popular school.

Almost 140 youngsters applied for the 60 reception places at Newbridge this year and an unusually high number of those already had brothers or sisters there.

This put them in a higher priority group than those living close to the school and the catchment area for children without siblings was reduced from a radius of 0.6 miles last year to 0.321 miles this year.

Instead, it is estimated that nearly 20 youngsters from Newbridge and Weston were given places at Twerton Infants, which is so far away that at least one parent was offered a council-funded taxi for her four-year-old to travel to and fro.

Now Bath and North East Somerset Council is to fund an extra 30 places at Newbridge, where a temporary classroom will be created.

Extra places will also be provided at the village school in Peasedown St John to cater for demand there.

The council says that based on trends from previous years, the schools looked to have had enough places to accommodate all local children, but that there had been a drop in the number of families sending youngsters to private schools.

Cabinet member for children's services Councillor Chris Watt (Con, Midsomer Norton Redfield), said: “Bath and North East Somerset Council’s school organisation team makes every effort to plan for the number of children who will apply to schools each year. This is why plans are already in place that take into account the increased birth rate for the 2011 and 2012 intakes.

“However, this year more people than usual are choosing to send their children to local authority schools – perhaps due to factors such as the recession, a trend which we are seeing nationally. By working closely with the school governors, who have been positive and supportive in their response to this unusual situation and the action that needs to be taken, I am pleased that we have been able to find a solution which will allow more local children to have the chance to attend their local school.”

At Newbridge, the plan is to adapt existing accommodation, to temporarily provide a classroom for an additional class for September 2010. The council will then work with the school to make the necessary permanent adaptations to buildings to accommodate the additional children for the seven years of their primary education.

The school will employ another teacher and teaching assistant to support the extra class. A maximum of 30 additional places will be made available and allocated in line with the authority's admissions criteria.

At Peasedown, an extra class will be added and the school will take on another teacher and teaching assistant to support this. The new class will make use of an existing classroom, with an extra15 places being made available.

A council spokesman added: "These extra places in both schools will allow for a greater number of local children to enter their local school and will prevent them from having to travel to schools much further away."

Parents who would like further information can contact the council’s Schools Admissions and Transport team on 01225 394312.