RESIDENTS are angry at plans to demolish and rebuild a school in a conservation area.

Northbrook School, Taunton Road, Lee, will be demolished and rebuilt to accommodate 600 pupils, up from its current population of 520, if the design is approved by Lewisham Council.

Plans for the school, which is situated in the Lee Manor Conservation Area, are being criticised by residents because of the proposed increase in the building's size.

Under the plans the existing school will be demolished and rebuilt, and will be 2.4m higher.

Charles Batchelor, chairman of conservation group the Lee Manor Society, is leading a campaign against the plans.

He said: "The building will be overbearing and will completely dominate views from houses along Taunton Road. It's difficult to overstate its impact on the area."

Residents criticised the design's large size at a public meeting held to discuss the plans on June 5.

They also said they feared a lack of outdoor spaces at the new school would lead to swarms of pupils congregating in the nearby Manor House Gardens park.

Mr Batchelor said: "The plans clearly represent an attempt to squeeze a quart into a pint pot, both in terms of the bulk of the building and the recreational needs of the pupils."

One major part of the council's plans is to provide facilities at the school for the whole community to use.

But at the meeting residents said the current plans were threatening to destroy any good relations the community has with the school.

The plans are part of the Government's Building Schools for the Future initiative, which aims to modernise Britain's schools.

A spokesman for Lewisham Council said: "No decision has yet been made on the design proposals for the new Northbrook school.

"Feedback from interested stakeholders will be taken into consideration by the planning committee before a final decision is made."

No date has been set for a decision on the plans.