A NEW primary school is likely to be built in Southend to ease the pressure on places.

Council chiefs have revealed they are searching for a possible site for a new school in the town centre as birth rates continue to rise.

An emergency plan to cram more pupils into existing schools has been drawn up for the next four years, but bosses have now conceded a new school will need to be built to cope beyond that point.

Mark Flewitt, the Tory councillor responsible for schools, said: “The high birth rate has continued to put pressure on school places.

“We need to develop further plans, and that is why officers are exploring possible sites for a new school in the town centre.”

In November last year, Southend council bosses revealed a massive expansion programme was needed at primary schools.

Birth rates in the borough have risen dramatically in recent years, from 1,914 in 2004/05 to 2,232 in 2009/10.

By squeezing more pupils into existing schools, which will be given extra cash to cope with the influx, the authority hopes to find enough spaces for all youngsters next September.

But the situation is predicted to worsen each subsequent year until 2015, when all of Southend’s town centre primary schools will be at bursting point.

Mr Flewitt said officers would report back early next year on the possible locations for the new school.

However, he admitted the council was still unsure how it could be funded.

The Government released £100million towards the repair or replacement of crumbling schools in October, but Southend Council opted not to submit a bid because chiefs said none of their schools would meet the strict criteria, and they were worried about the choice of controversial private finance initiatives to fund the scheme.