A new teaching block including eight new classrooms is set to be built at a Worcester primary school as staff hope to double the number of pupil places.

Fourteen new teaching jobs will be created at St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Warndon as a result of plans to increase pupil numbers from its current roll of 210 to 420, due to demand for places in the area.

If it is given the go-ahead, the new building is expected to open in September next year.

Warndon ward councillor Alan Amos, who is also a member of the planning committee, said the new building would help accommodate the surge in schoolchildren numbers – but said the proposals would need to make sure the expansion of the school would not cause traffic difficulties for residents living nearby. He said: “Looking at what they are proposing, it looks fair and reasonable.

“Clearly the area needs more school places. “That is a fact – and therefore we have to accept that reality and manage the solution as best we can. There is a bit of a concern about traffic and I will be looking at the plans closely to see how they suggest managing that.”

If approved, eight new classrooms will be built along with a toilet block, staff room, small group study rooms and a new library.

The former on-site caretaker’s house – which is no longer used – will be demolished to make way for a new playground. A report from the school says that there is currently a problem with parents double-parking along Chedworth Drive, and parking in the ‘keep clear’ zone in front of the school gates.

It sets out plans to introduce 42 bicycle parking spaces, as well as warning signs along the road. The school also hopes to have a police officer or police community support officer patrol during peak times to discourage illegal parking or manoeuvres.

Letters will also be sent to parents encouraging them to ‘Park and Walk’, while staff will act as ‘greeters’ in the morning to escort children from further down the road onto school grounds, removing the need for parents to take them all the way to the gates.

The plans, which will go before Worcester City Council’s planning committee next week, have been recommended for approval.