CONTROVERSIAL plans to expand a primary school look set to be pushed through despite fierce opposition.

Southend Council wants Porters Grange in Lancaster Gardens, Southend, to temporarily take on an extra 30 pupils a year for four years.

The school already takes on 60 pupils annually, and school bosses and parents have said it will not be able to cope with the increase.

Despite the concerns, council officers still think the school can take more pupils by expanding its site or coming to an admissions arrangement with another nearby primary school, Thorpe Greenways.

In a report, Alastair Robertson, group manager of school funding, said: “Officers have discussed with the headteachers of Thorpe Greenways the possibility of the infant school increasing its admission limit from 120 to 150 in September 2013.

“Through flexible use of accommodation between the two schools, this might be possible with minimal capital expenditure.

“In order to provide as much flexibility as possible, particularly if the high pupil numbers continue beyond 2013 in this part of the town, it would make sense, if possible, to expand the site at Porters Grange Primary School.”

The report said £150,000 had been earmarked in the school spending programme for 2011/12 for “possible land purchase and reinstatement work”.

Porters Grange has already agreed to take up to 90 children this September, but the dispute is over the extra numbers from September 2012 to 2014.

School headteacher Ros Ferdinand and the chairman of governors Samantha Richardson have told the council Porters Grange is already overcrowded, particularly in terms of traffic around the entrances, and also lacks a playing field.

In response to the concerns, members of the council’s children and lifelong learning scrutiny committee visited the school in December. Mr Robertson’s report, drawn up after the visit, said spare classrooms at the school could be used to house the extra pupils.

The council is encouraging several primary schools across the town to expand to help cope with rising birth rates.

The committee will look at the report at a meeting on Monday with members recommended to support the increase for September 2012. The final decision will be taken in March by the council’s Tory cabinet.

Porters Grange entry numbers for September 2013 will not be decided until March 2012.

Judith McMahon, the Labour council candidate for Kursaal ward, said the proposals for the school to buy more land could work, but the school still faced the problem of a lack of space.