A PRIMARY school has been granted permission for a new children’s centre as part of a major expansion.

Darlinghurst School, in Pavilion Drive, Leigh, has also been given the go-ahead for a single-storey extension to house three new classrooms and a nursery so the school can accommodate more pupils.

The third part of the revamp is the conversion of a caretaker’s bungalow on the school site into offices to be used as a base for the council’s team of community workers.

The £560,000 plans, which will require the loss of 345 square metres of the school playing field, have been approved by Southend Council.

Headteacher Bob Knight said: “It’s good news for us. We will convert two classrooms to form a new children’s centre in the main school which will serve this area and West Leigh.

“We are hoping it will be open by the middle of April.”

Builders have started work on the site and aim to be finished by March 31.

Rising birth rates over the past five years have placed increasing pressure on schools in Southend, with several, including Temple Sutton Primary School, in Eastern Avenue, already the subject of expansion work.