ST JOHN's Church of England primary school, in the Clifton area of Bristol, has taken over a disused police station to provide more classrooms. Because of the demand for places, the voluntary controlled school, founded in 1885, is more than doubling the number of pupils it can take, from 210 to 525. Bristol Council, which converted the police premises, estimates that the city will need 3500 new primary places over the next five years.

The Church's chief education officer, the Revd Jan Ainsworth, says that church primary schools in many dioceses are expanding to meet the demand caused by an unforeseen surge in the birth rate during the past decade.

Although the increasing demand is widespread, it is at its most acute in Greater London. The schools director for London diocese, Liz Wolverson, says that dozens of C of E schools have responded to local council pleas for help by creating "bulge" classes: some doubling in size or opening satellite schools in converted premises. The biggest demand was in poorer London boroughs, where rents are lower; many recently arrived parents with primary-aged children were shocked by the difficulty of finding school places, she said.

Two C of E free schools, St Mary's Primary, Hampton, and William Perkins Secondary, Greenford, opened this month. "The day after they opened their doors, it was clear that others were needed," Mrs Wolverson said. "By 2017, the pres- sure will be on secondary schools. Local authorities are trying to plan ahead while attempting to provide more primary places." Allocated government funds did not begin to touch the problem, she said.

The situation would be discussed this week at the annual conference, in York, of the Association of Anglican Secondary School Heads, the chairman of the organisation, Andrew Wilcox, said. Mr Wilcox, who is head of Bishop Ramsey comprehensive school in north-west London, said that governors were discussing the possibility of opening a satellite school of a similar size by 2017.