SCHOOLS in Bolton are to receive a cash injection of nearly a quarter of a million pounds to create new school places.

The government cash is part of a £1.6 billion pot to help address a school places crisis across the country.

Bolton's share of the cash — £240,652 — is designed to help town hall chiefs plan ahead and guarantee a place for every child in the years ahead, according to the government.

The money is likely to be spent on the borough's special schools.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "The money will be spent on schemes to create additional pupil places in our schools.

"The amount we will receive in 2017-2018 is relatively small compared to previous years but that will be based on our forecasts for that year.

"While it’s too early to say exactly what the money will be spent on, we anticipate it will help to create capacity in our special schools."

Bolton Council has invested more than £35 million over the past seven years creating over 4,000 new places in primary schools.

The Bolton News revealed that by September 2017, 240 additional primary school places will be needed and for secondary schools the number of children will exceed the secondary school places available for them in just four years time.

Town Hall chiefs say that about 1,500 extra places will need to be found by 2024.

Nationally there are on-going concerns about pressure on school places, particularly for primary-aged children, fuelled in part in recent years by a rising birth rate.

Last month, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned that schools could be pushed to breaking point over the next decade by the need to provide almost a million more places for pupils.

Official figures predict there may be around 900,000 extra pupils in England's schools over the next decade.

An LGA spokesman said: "This money will provide more certainty to councils as they plan the creation of school places.

"Councils and schools are already doing everything they can to provide places, in some cases going to extraordinary lengths to do so.

"But we fear a tipping point could soon emerge when councils and schools can no longer afford the massive costs for the creation of places, nor find the space necessary for new classes, if this school places crisis is not properly dealt with."