A school wants to expand its sixth form block because of an overwhelmingly increase in pupils.

Rickstones School in Witham is hoping to get permission for two more classrooms and a large tutorial area.

And it could be a race against time to have the accommodation ready by September when numbers are expected to soar by 40 per cent.

The £80,000 scheme comes just three years after the block was built.

Headteacher Norma Turner said: "When we built the sixth form block we thought it was quite large. We believed it would be big enough but the sixth form has grown so much over the past few years."

The school is expecting its sixth form to increase by about 40 per cent. It currently takes 80 students but this will rise to at least 110 in September.

Mrs Turner believes the surge in popularity is due to the number of GNVQs offered, the growing reputation of music and media courses and a rise in secondary school pupils.

She added: "I think a lot of the school's reputation has been passed on by word of mouth. We're worried that we're going to have all these students and not enough space.

"But it's great to see the sixth form grow because the students play such an important role in the school community."

Chairman of governors Phil Barlow said he hoped the extension work would be tied in with the on-going roof repairs. Work is currently underway on bringing roofing up to standard after it was declared unsafe last year.

Braintree Council will make a decision on the expansion plans at a later date.

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