A NEW primary school will be built on the former home of the city’s park and ride.

Work will start on the 420-pupil North Worcester Primary Academy, in Perdiswell, after an application was approved by city council planners.

The school should be built by August 2019 ready for 60 reception pupils to start in September. It will be built on land previously occupied by the city’s park and ride scheme off John Comyn Drive.

The park and ride scheme was scrapped by Worcestershire County Council in 2014 to save money.

Kate Brunt, chief executive of the Rivers CE Multi-Academy Trust, which will run the school, said: “This planning permission approval is the last piece in the jigsaw for North West Primary Academy and we are so excited that work can commence.

“Our team has worked tirelessly with architects and builders to produce designs for our dream school and this approval means that the site will be exactly as we had hoped. We are looking ahead now to welcoming our first cohort of pupils through the doors.”

It is hoped the new school will ease pressure on school places in the north of the city - particularly with the increase in demand for places with the Cherry Tree Park and Cherry Orchard developments in Bevere.

At the meeting on Thursday (July 19) in the Guildhall, chairman Councillor Chris Mitchell said: “I think we can all agree that Worcester needs a primary school.”

Cllr Roger Berry said the school was “greatly needed” and it was “very exciting” to see the plans approved whilst Cllr Louis Stephen “really welcomed” the plan.

With 60 places for reception pupils next year and 26 pre-school places, the school is planning to fill its 420 capacity in the next seven years.

The two-storey school will have a dedicated studio for music, technology and dance as well as an artificial turf area for year-round sports.