More than 100 extra pupils will be accommodated with the multi-million-pound rebuild of a crumbling Walsall primary school. The old Christ Church C of E is to be demolished

Firm plans to replace the building with a £5.5 million complex have been put forward to Walsall Council planners.

The school in Harden Road, Leamore, was built in the early 1970s and now a transformation is “desperately needed” according to experts. The current school has a maximum capacity of 236 pupils and has 29 full and part-time staff.

The new plans, submitted by Seymour Harris Architects on behalf of education bosses, allow for 354 pupils, a 26-place nursery and 37 staff.

A statement from architects says: “In the main the building is in a state of disrepair, and in desperate need of replacement.

“The school layout and planning do not address the needs of education in the 21st century with poorly sized classrooms, circulation through the main hall and difficulty in delivering flexibility in current teaching methods.

“The existing school building requires substantial sums of money invested for repairs, replacement windows, internal spaces.”

The project is to be funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families through the Primary Capital Programme, which aims to invest extra resources into several primary schools across the borough of Wal-sall.

Primary schools already earmarked for improvements across the borough include Chuckery Primary, Leighswood, The Radleys, Woodlands and Birchills CE.

The £4.8 million project for a two-storey teaching block at Birchills CE Primary, in Farringdon Street, received planning permission last year.

The scheme was for demolition of the condemned building for Years 3 and 4, and improvements to the entrance to Years 1 and 2.

The project includes new block of eight classrooms, IT suite, and 23-space car park to make it easier to leave vehicles.