A HIGH school will increase its capacity by 250 pupils in the next five years after an extension plan which will cost more than £4m was approved by councillors this week.

Penistone Grammar School, which provides places for pupils in the west of the borough, was forced into closing its library this year to accommodate an extra 50 pupils and submitted a planning application seeking permission to build a two-storey extension.

On Tuesday, councillors on Barnsley Council’s planning board approved the scheme, which will result in the school’s capacity rising from 1,350 to 1,600 pupils via a phased process to enable an extra 50 children to join each year - as well as 22 more staff.

A council report said: “The proposed application is for the construction of a two-storey classroom block housing two science laboratories, six classrooms, two staff rooms and associated toilet and support provision.

“The works include a connecting link to the existing science department and changes to the landscaping to accommodate the building.

“The extension has been designed to blend with the existing school and is modest in scale.

“As there will be additional pupils walking to school, it is recommended that works to the highway be undertaken to improve safe access.

“A signal-controlled pedestrian crossing adjacent to the access on Huddersfield Road and widening of the footway on the western side of the road have been suggested as a solution.

“This is the preferred option and, subject to further investigation, is conditioned as part of this approval.”

At a cabinet meeting last week, councillors were advised of the revised cost estimate for the school’s enlargement which has risen from an initial £2m to more than £4.2m - a figure that could continue to rise.

Phase one of the expansion was completed during the school holidays ready for the new school year in September and is said to have cost nearly £1.1m, which is £302,000 over the original budget.

Some of the cost will be covered through a government grant and it is proposed the rest will be made up in Section 106 payments - cash set aside by developers to balance the financial impact new housing has on communities.

Highways bosses also said on Tuesday that a traffic regulation order (TRO) is set to be conditioned into the approval to prevent cars parking on Huddersfield Road.

Coun David Griffin said: “Traffic is a prominent issue on Huddersfield Road as there are lots of cars parked there, so a TRO is something I would like to see.

“Much of it is due to laziness, so it’s something we must look at. There’s a car park nearby so it does not make sense to add to the issue by parking on the main road.”