A YORK primary school has unveiled its expansion plans as it looks to accommodate 160 more pupils.

Plans to refurbish and extend the 97-year-old Knavesmire Primary School, including adding a new main hall and library area, have been submitted to City of York Council.

A supporting business plan states the school has been “increasingly oversubscribed” for the past three years due to its popularity, new housing developments and rising birth rates in the area.

The school in Campleshon Road has 260 pupils but wants to increase this to 420, while retaining its 39-place nursery. It also wants to become “a hub for the local community”.

If approved, the expansion will happen in three phases and will include new extra classrooms, two of which are needed for the start of 2012/13, a new head teacher’s office, new replacement cloakrooms and toilets and the relocation of a temporary classroom to allow teaching to continue while works are carried out.

The new hall, which could also be used for community events, would be created on part of the site which currently houses a temporary classroom and a soft play area.

An additional entrance and improved reception would be installed to improve “poor circulation” around the school, which currently has 50 more pupils than its building was designed to take.

In a planning statement, the council’s property services section said: “The school is to embrace new teaching initiatives with shared facilities and a new main hall to accommodate the larger intake.

“It is also intended that the school develops the community facility and encourages close links with the surrounding area.”

An agreement outlining proposals to open up the new facilities for community use has been signed by the school’s governors and the council. Planners are expected to make a decision on the scheme in April.