Education bosses in Hertfordshire have earmarked £20m for temporary classrooms to help ease the crush for primary school spaces in the county.

The cash will be targeted at overcrowded schools struggling to meet the increasing demand for school places.

The news comes after the council already committed to a number of multi-million pound school expansion projects over the past year, including two in Watford.

Last month, councillors voted to spend £3.5m on building more classrooms at St Antony’s School in West Watford. The proposal still has to be agreed with governors at the school, but was broadly welcomed by politicians in the town.

In October, the county also granted planning permission for Beechfield Primary School, in Gammons Lane, to double its size with a two-storey extension. The school has been using temporary accommodation to house extra students since last year.

Despite the green light for school expansion projects in the town, opposition Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors have both called for a new school to be built in Watford.

One possible site for such a school might the soon-to-be vacated Royal Mail site on Ascot Road.

Frances Button, Conservative cabinet member for education and skills at the council, hailed the extra cash as good news for the county.

She said: “We know there is a real demand from parents for more local school places for their children and we want to do everything we can to make sure there are enough places available for children as near as possible to their homes. “This is very good news for Hertfordshire.”

The council said it was working to identify which areas had the most urgent need for extra places. The extra money would then be used to pay for temporary expansions and accommodation to house more students while more permanent solutions are sought.