Councillors have been told to think again over plans to expand a school.

Harrow Council’s decision to expand Grimsdyke School, in Sylvia Avenue, Hatch End, will be sent back to its cabinet, after a scrutiny committee this week said it hadn’t done enough to address concerns over traffic.

The council’s plans have been greeted with hostility by people living near the school, who are worried about congestion from increasing its capacity from 420 to 630 pupils.

Hatch End ward councillor Susan Hall said: “Grimsdyke School is unique in that all traffic to and from it flows down one, already narrow, residential road.

“At the moment the traffic at school dropping-off and collection times can gridlock for up to half an hour, so residents are rightly worried about what will happen if another 100 to 150 cars start doing the school run.

“This isn’t just a matter of inconvenience; if an emergency vehicle needed to get through at these times the consequences would be disastrous.”

The decision was called in after the Conservative group submitted its reasons at the scrutiny committee meeting on Monday.

Committee members, comprised of politicians and independent members, decided there was not enough evidence to justify the school's expansion

Cllr Hall added: “Everyone in Harrow recognises the need for more school places, and Grimsdyke is an excellent school so it’s no surprise parents want their children to go there.

“However, that does not mean every school we have must automatically expand if the individual circumstances aren’t right, and with Grimsdyke that is very much the case.”

Cllr Simon Brown, who responsible for schools policy, said: “The Labour administration has been expanding schools across Harrow to meet growing demand; Grimsdyke school needs to be expanded otherwise local children in Hatch End won’t have a local school to go to.

“We have been, and will continue, to work closely with the residents and the schools to minimise any potential traffic and parking issues. We will be happy to look at this issue again at cabinet.

"The school has already introduced a number of measures to reduce traffic. This includes dedicated drop-off zones and developing a local traffic management survey.

“These measures have been used at other expanded schools and have been successful in reducing traffic problems. I am confident that this will be the case in Grimsdyke School.”

The next cabinet meeting is to be held on February 19, from 6.30pm.