A NEW school is set to ease the shortage of infants and primary age places in north Swindon.

An extra £8m has been secured to tackle the lack of school provision in the Oakhurst area, much to the delight of parents.

It follows months of work between North Swindon MP Michael Wills and Swindon Council leader Roderick Bluh and comes on top of proposals to add an additional 120 reception places shared between Abbey Meads, Catherine Wayte, St Francis and Haydonleigh primary schools from this September.

The council's cabinet will consider on Wednesday the options for providing a 26-place temporary classroom on a site off Pioneer Road in Oakhurst in advance of a permanent 420-place school.

The temporary classroom could be ready by the autumn, but a timeframe for the new school has not been set.

"The council has always been committed towards building PS7, the issue was to do with the necessary funding. Now that we are in a better position in regard to that, we are going to take a paper to the cabinet which recommends the building of PS7," said Coun Bluh.

"I am very pleased that working with Michael Wills MP and the Department for Children, Schools and Families we are now able to identify sufficient funding to enable the school to go ahead."

Mr Wills said: "I am absolutely delighted for the parents who were so anxious to get this done, and now they're going to get the school that they've worked so hard for.

"We have been reassured that a temporary site should be operational by this autumn."

Allison Kirk, one of the parents who has campaigned for the new school, was glad that the years of hard work had finally paid off.

"On behalf of the Kirk, Davis, Fewlings and McLachlan families, I would like to thank Mr Wills and Mr Bluh for delivering on their promise," she said.

"After years of campaigning, we are all very excited that there will now be a community school for the children of Oakhurst.

"Having this school means that the children will be able to walk to the school and go to school with other children they play with.

"A big thank-you as well to all the people who signed the petition. We got nearly 200 signatures and that really helped in the long run."