Bradford Council, school governors and staff were left “disappointed” that the local Catholic Diocese has blocked the expansion of a Shipley primary school.

In March, the council approved an increase in the number of pupils that St Anthony’s Primary School could let in from 18 a year to 30 starting in September 2014. This would eventually lead to school numbers rising from 126 pupils to 210.

It would also lead to enlargement of the existing buildings and was part of a Council programme of expanding schools to deal with increasing pupil numbers across the district, rather than the more expensive option of building new schools.

The plans also had the support of governors, but The Diocese of Leeds, which runs St Anthony’s, has blocked any expansion. They say there is not enough evidence that the extra spaces would go to Catholics.

A Diocesan spokesman said: “The school cannot give evidence that we need extra spaces, so the diocese has decided to postpone any changes.

“We have already expanded St Clare’s Catholic School, so we don’t have the numbers to justify expanding St Anthony’s too. We don’t have any indication from baptismal figures that there will be more Catholics in the area.”

Chair of the school’s governors Councillor Vanda Greenwood (Lab, Baildon) said: “I’m extremely disappointed the Diocese has put a block on this. We voted in favour of this, and now we have been told we are not allowed to build any extra classrooms on to the school. The diocese weren’t happy with it at all.

“Baptism figures prove that there are enough Catholic children coming through the system to fill these extra places.

“This could lead to a significant number of Catholic children not having access to a Catholic education.

“They’ve left us with no option whatsoever. If we can’t expand the building we won’t have room to put the children in.”

Headteacher Simon Gallacher said: “Parents and staff are very disappointed we haven’t got the go ahead to expand by 2014. We remain hopeful that in subsequent years the diocese will look at it again. We thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to put us on the map, it is a real hidden gem.

“But it is a diocese school, and maybe they can see the bigger picture.”

Coun Ralph Berry, responsible for children’s services at the Council, said: “It is very unfortunate, because we felt there was a demand for these spaces. We put forward a strong case, but the diocese had a different view. We need to make sure we have school places closest to where they are needed.

“It creates further challenges for the council that we will have to look at.”