PLANS for a new £40m secondary school for Poole look set to be dropped indefinitely as the council considers expanding existing schools - which could include the town 's two grammars.

An "urgent need" for more secondary school places had been identified to meet demand from 2018, when forecasts predicted the town could need an extra 300 school places per year between then and 2022.

The former Jellicoe Theatre site on Constitution Hill Road - secured by the council in a £1.9m deal last December - had been earmarked as a possible location for the new school.

But revised forecasts now suggest a far fewer - around 240 - additional year 7 places will be needed from 2018 onwards.

The latest recommendation which comes before Cabinet on November 3 is that a new secondary school is not required up to 2025, and additional places for the 2019 to 2021 period should be secured through the expansion of existing schools.

A feasibility study last year looked into growing Carter Community School by two forms of entry, and Parkstone Grammar, Poole Grammar, Poole High School and St Edward’s RC CE VA School all by one form of entry, but no plans for any secondary school are yet in place.

Andrew Flockhart, chief executive, Borough of Poole, said: “Our most recent pupil forecasts showed a drop in Poole’s birth rate in 2013 and a similar rate in 2014. This has meant pupil numbers forecast up to 2025 can be accommodated by expanding existing secondary schools in the borough without providing a new school at this time.

"The Secondary Schools Options Study Steering Group will continue to plan the best way additional secondary school places will be provided, and the council, together with all Poole secondary schools, will discuss which of those can be expanded to meet the expected demand.

"No decision has been made on the future use of the Constitution Hill Road site but alternative options will be considered in due course.”

The recommendations have arisen from an options study lead by a Steering Group comprising headteachers, governors, academy sponsors, Diocesan representatives and senior LA officers. It concluded that securing all the additional places through a new secondary school alone "was not a workable option" as it "frontloads costs and school places and would create significant surplus places for three years and jeopardising the viability of less popular schools." They will be considered by Cabinet on November 3.