Conservative councillors are calling for the most popular primary schools in Bath to be expanded to help the city deal with a mini population boom.

Their call comes as the Tory prospective Parliamentary candidate for the city is backing parents who want to see an extra class put in at Newbridge Primary School ready for this September.

Bath and North East Somerset Council officers have said there will need to be around 35 extra reception places for 2011 and 40 extra places for 2012 - but that they cannot do anything about a surge in demand for the academic year starting in September.

Although at the moment it has been proposed that Newbridge Primary and Moorlands Infant schools should expand to accommodate the extra children, the Conservatives had argued that it should be the oversubscribed schools which are given the first opportunity to increase their numbers.

Joint deputy leader of the group Councillor Anthony Clarke said this would allow more parents to send their children to their first choice school.

He said: "There is a clear need for more primary school places in areas of Bath.

"It is therefore crucial that plans to expand schools to address the increasing number of children meet the wishes of local parents.

"Conservatives believe that the primary schools most popular with parents should be given the first opportunity to expand, ensuring that more parents get their first choice of school.

"It is of course up to each individual school whether they take up the offer of expansion, but popular and successful schools should be given the chance to build on their success."

According to the figures for this September's admissions, some of the most oversubscribed schools in B&NES are St Stephen's Primary in Lansdown, Weston All Saints Primary, Widcombe Infants, Bathwick St Mary Primary and Newbridge Primary.

Newbridge has already had to turn away dozens of children who live close to the school, sending them to Twerton and Oldfield Park instead, because of the high number of admissions.

Parents are calling for the proposed expansion to be brought forward to this year and the prospective Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Bath Fabian Richter is supporting their request.

He said: "I know from discussions with parents that Newbridge Primary School is highly popular because it is an excellent school.

"It doesn't make sense to prevent it from expanding to meet extra demand, especially when there are plans under way to expand the school anyway.

"Conservatives have been calling for years to allow the best schools to expand, raising standards of education across the country.

"I have asked our council to reconsider and to bring forward the building work at Newbridge Primary School to this summer."

A spokeswoman for B&NES Council said it was working closely with parents to help children get a place at their preferred school but that at the moment it was dealing with the appeals process.

She said: "Parents who were refused a place at their preferred school have the option to lodge an appeal and/or go on a waiting list for any places which may become available.

"We will reconsider all cases where parents have not accepted the place offered by the end of March and a second round of offers will be made at the beginning of April for those schools where places have become available."