The high demand for school places in the district means Bradford Council will have to support the creation of more Free schools, its Labour leader has admitted.

Councillor Ian Greenwood said while he would rather money was spent on new schools run by the authority, he would co-operate with groups setting up free schools as they would provide desperately needed extra places for pupils.

Bradford is set to have the highest concentration of free schools outside the capital after the Government gave the go-ahead to bids for three more earlier this month.

Two free schools in Bradford were among 24 to open in September as part of efforts to raise education standards by allowing greater freedoms than to those run by local authorities.

Coun Greenwood said: “We think the model is flawed and we would much rather have schools we could commission ourselves but we need the school places so the reality is if the only mechanism is to get them by free schools we are perfectly willing to work with people to provide them.

Rising birth rates, immigration from Eastern Europe and the recession have caused the extra 1,800 secondary school places needed in the district last year, which the Council is using in its bid for funding for the building of two new schools.

Councillor Roger L’Aime, (Con, Baildon), education spokesman for the Council’s Conservative Group, said: “Free schools will certainly provide extra places which will be welcome.”

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, the Council’s Liberal Democrat group leader, said: “While we have got £128 million sitting in balances, there is no reason why we can’t free up cash to sort out the problem ourselves.

“Free schools are already causing massive problems.

Nationally, the Labour opposition has said it is opposed to the Government’s free schools policy but it has pledged to allow the successful ones to remain open if it forms the next government Full story in Tuesday's T&A