DETAILED plans have been unveiled for major extensions at a popular York school.

City of York Council approved plans for a £7 million development at the school earlier this month, and the official planning process is now underway.

An application has been submitted to the council's planning department for a new two storey classroom block and a new sports hall.

The school has never had its own indoor sports hall, and pupils have had to walk to the nearby university facilities for sports sessions.

A design and access statement prepared by the council's property services said the consistently over-subscribed school has had more applications from incoming Year 7 students than places available every year since 2007.

It added: "A number of large scale housing developments are either expected or are currently being built in the school’s catchment area – e.g. Hungate, Germany Beck, Barbican Site. These are expected to increase demand for places at the school by around 150.

"The school currently has 1,339 pupils and the proposed expansion is designed to accommodate up to 1,550 by 2016."

The new development at the school will also include pedestrian and bike access from what will become the Germany Beck housing site.

The sports hall will be built on what is now three tennis courts, near to an overspill car park on the south west of the school's six acre site, meaning it can be easily used by other people in the community outside of school hours.

The design statement added: "In addition, the school has been using an area next to the two rear tennis courts as overspill vehicle parking for the last 10 years, so this area has been proposed for extending the existing tennis courts in the corner of the site."

The funding for the new buildings had already been set aside in the council's budgets. Housing developers on the nearby sites will contribute £600,000, another £1.5 million is expected from the Germany Beck site, £4.5 million from council funds from the Department for Educational, and £350,000 from the school itself.