Plans to expand a south Suffolk primary school by more than 100 places has been granted a £345,000 boost from housing developer contributions.

The £1.9million project to increase capacity at Brooklands Primary School in Brantham will allow the school to up its pupil numbers from 210 to 315 places.

That will be accomplished by the building of a new teaching block at the rear of the main school building, which will include three new classrooms, a studio, toilets, storage and a small group room.

Suffolk County Council has already secured £950,118 of housing developer cash known as Section 106 and £639,691 of basic need funding – money provided by the Government to ensure there are enough school places.

On Monday afternoon, Babergh District Council's cabinet agreed £345,360 from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds – another pot of money from housing developers to support vital infrastructure upgrades to communities they build in.

Alastair McCraw, Independent councillor for Brantham, said: "I welcome this as an inevitable requirement given development in Brantham over the last few years.

"Brooklands School and Brantham need this essential infrastructure taken from Section 106 and CIL through Babergh."

Suffolk County Council confirmed at Babergh's meeting that a masterplan to expand that to 420 pupils in future if needed is also in development.

Clive Arthey, cabinet member for planning at Babergh, said: "Today's decision demonstrates our council's continued commitment to working with partners to help provide the infrastructure our local communities need in order to meet demand from housing growth.

"The CIL awards we distribute play a major role in helping our towns and villages keep pace with growth and ensuring our communities remain places that people are proud to call home."