The Government has not provided enough money to tackle the shortage of primary school places, according to London Councils, the body which represents the capital’s local authorities. It estimates that more than 50,000 extra spaces will be needed in London over the next seven years, at least 2,045 by next September, and that #163;880 million is needed to provide them.

A DCSF spokesman said: “It is clear that while some local authorities are facing exceptional, unanticipated rises in demand for reception-age pupils, others simply did not plan or budget effectively for how rising birth rates would affect them.”