By John HowardA £2 MILLION primary school could be built by next year in a rapidly-expanding town to help the existing schools cope with the influx of new families.

A £2 MILLION primary school could be built by next year in a rapidly-expanding town to help the existing schools cope with the influx of new families.

Suffolk County Council plans to build the new 300-place primary school on the edge of Stowmarket, near the Tesco superstore, and a planning application is about to be submitted.

Stowmarket has been expanding rapidly with the new Cedars Park estate on the edge of the town bringing in many new families and the decision to build a new school comes after a consultation about 18 months ago.

Residents and schools were asked whether they would like to see a new school built or an existing one extended.

A county council spokesman said: “It will shortly be announced that we are gaining a new school not far from Tesco, on land off Creeting Road, and a planning application will be submitted shortly.

“It will cater for 300 pupils and will include a specialist centre. We have a number of schools that are quite full and it's very important to get new facilities sooner rather than later.

“The building of the new school will be in conjunction with a review of other local school catchment areas, and there has been a lot of work to ensure there is no sudden change that will effect other schools locally.”

Lesley Mayes, Stowmarket's deputy mayor, said the town was thrilled at the prospect of gaining a new school.

“This is terrific news and it will hopefully help to build a community spirit on the Cedars Park estate,” she added.

“There are not many facilities on the estate at the moment and once there is a school, hopefully more of a community will develop there. We are really pleased.”

It is hoped builders can be on site by July, with the school opening in September 2006 at a cost of about £2m.