Extra £19m funding for Bristol primary school places

A further £19m is to be spent on creating primary school places in Bristol, it has been announced.

The government has confirmed the award for the 2012-13 financial year.

Last month, it was announced that the city would get £18.3m of government "emergency funding" to pay for extra places.

The council says Bristol has seen one of the biggest rises in the school population in England.

There has been a 20% rise in the number of children starting primary school over the past four years in the city, the spokeswoman said.

Bristol City Council has forecast an extra 3,000 children in primary schools by 2015 and with planned housing, a possible increase of 5,000.