HOUSEHOLDERS in the Eastfield area of Scarborough are being canvassed for their views on the future of primary education, resulting from plans to build more than 800 homes.

Cynthia Welbourn, North Yorkshire County Council's education officer, said: "The education authority is looking at how it can provide enough primary school places for children in the new housing development proposed for Eastfield."

It hopes to do so by building a primary school or to look at improving the existing Eastfield schools.

It is likely that more than 220 children of primary school age will be living in the new development, plus 110 children of secondary school age.

Parents have been told that the primary school position is complicated.

Miss Welbourn said: "What the education authority wants to do is make the right type of education available to the children from the new development, as it did when the existing parts of Eastfield were being developed."

Option one would mean enlarging Overdale School from 379 to 420 places, Braeburn Infant School from 220 to 250, and Braeburn Junior from 272 to 330.

The second option is to build a new school with seven classrooms, a nursery, assembly hall and gymnasium, school field, play area and staff accommodation.

Families are being urged to make a response to the options and an open forum is being held at the Eastfield Community Centre, on Thursday, at 10am. People have until January 20 to respond, and a decision will be made in April