Plans to expand Bradford's smallest school are set to get the backing of councillors.

Oldfield Primary School was granted a last minute reprieve after Education Secretary David Blunkett stepped in on its behalf last year following a campaign to save it.

It is set to expand from less than 40 pupils to almost 60 to accommodate older children as part of Bradford's education shake-up.

And a planned extension to accommodate the extra pupils and staff is due to be considered by members of Bradford Council's Keighley area planning panel tomorrow.

An officers' report to the meeting recommends members refer the application to the Council's executive committee as the site in Oldfield Lane, Oldfield, is in the Green Belt. Their report recommends councillors make the referral with a recommendation the committee grants planning permission but first passes it to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions where a decision will be taken on whether the Secretary of State wants to call the application in.

The tiny village school, which was upgraded from a first school to a primary, was originally earmarked for closure under Bradford's schools reorganisation after the review team said it was disproportionately expensive to keep it open.

A campaign launched by supporters won the backing of Education Secretary David Blunkett and he rejected the Council's proposal to shut it on the grounds its loss would damage the community.

The planned extension would provide extra classroom space, teaching accommodation and toilets.

The officers' report says some concerns have been voiced by local people about car parking and traffic. But it says the increase in dropping off and picking up pupils generated by the expansion would be "relatively small scale'' and not a cause for significant concern.

Councillor Kris Hopkins (Con, Worth Valley) said he would be urging planning officers to take the concerns into account.

But he said he had no objection to the principle of extending the school, adding: "The community never stopped fighting to save the school and hopefully this extension will help secure its future.

"All there is in Oldfield is a pub and a school which is the heart of the community. If it had been removed, the village and its sense of community would have been lost.

"The extension's needed because of the change in the system - the village fought to save it 20 years ago, then again last year, but hopefully now they won't have to again.''

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