A new £4million primary school and preschool is planned for Yatton to prevent young pupils having to catch buses to Clevedon.

Hundreds of homes are planned in the village and with its primary schools already largely full, North Somerset Council is budgeting millions to the project.

The 210-place school is earmarked for North End, but the council concedes it may need to double the size of it in the long-term.

Only last month the council said there was no immediate plan to build a school in Yatton, but on Tuesday it is expected to rubber-stamp funding for one.

A target opening date of September 2020 or 2021 has been revealed in council papers this week.

North Somerset Times: Bloor Homes housing development off Arnolds Way, Yatton.Bloor Homes housing development off Arnolds Way, Yatton. (Image: Archant)

MORE: 39 homes planned for Mendip Road.

Yatton’s infant and junior schools have 630 places available and already take 600 students.

With more than 500 homes having received planning permission in North End alone – plus other developments sought for Stowey Road and Mendip Road – the council predicts it will have a ‘significant’ shortage of 121 school places by 2021.

Failure to build a school would mean pupils would need to travel miles to nearby towns or villages every day.

The council’s report said: “A new primary school in Yatton is needed to meet basic need.

“Early indications show a 210-place school, with the infrastructure and capacity to grow to 420 places as demand dictates, would be the best solution for the village.

“This would enable new places to be created at North End to support residential growth to the east of the village and provide an option for children living in the village of Kingston Seymour who risk being displaced by residents living closer to existing schools.”

The plans would not impact on the future of Yatton’s infant and junior schools.

The new school would require planning permission before construction could begin, but room for it has been allocated by Bloor Homes off Arnolds Way in its own development scheme.

Bloor’s first phase of housing at Arnolds Way is well underway and it has basic permission for a second. But last month it revealed more concrete plans, including 107 homes and space reserved for a care village and school.

Yatton Parish Council has voted in favour of the latest designs, but raised fears about traffic at North End as Hallam Land Management also has planning permission for 170 homes off the same roundabout.