MORE parents will be able to send their children to a popular primary school next year when it expands by 40%.

Four new classrooms are being built at Holy Trinity Primary School to help tackle a shortage of primary school places in Taunton.

It will result in two classes for each age group, with the annual intake of reception pupils rising from 42 to 60.

There will be no more mixed-age classes from next September, with 14 separate classrooms housing up to 420 children, up from the current 300 capacity.

Holy Trinity head teacher Nigel Bright said: “We were approached by the local authority to expand our school as there is a national shortage of school places and this is reflected in Taunton.

“One of the main reasons for this expansion is to address this need for additional school places.

“Each year we are significantly oversubscribed for children starting school in reception, and during the year, we receive a significant number of requests for places in other year groups.

“This is an exciting time for the school which allows us to develop the educational provision for our current pupils as well as others who might join us.”

A Somerset County Council spokesman said Holy Trinity will be the fourth primary school in Taunton with a 420-pupil capacity.

He added: “We are looking to increase the capacity of the school from 300 to 420 pupils and are currently inviting comments from the general public, having already discussed the proposals with parents, pupils and those directly affected.”