A new teaching block dedicated for children with special education needs is planned to be built at a secondary school.

Plans have gone in for the new building at Strood Academy which will cater for pupils with Austism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Medway Council has applied for the building, which would be linked to the existing school in Carnation Road.

If the plans are approved, the school - which is run by the Leigh Academies Trust - would have four new classrooms accommodating 25 pupils and 18 staff.

A spokesman for the Trust said: "The aim is to support Medway's need to provide more special resource provision places, to support more young people with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) access mainstream education with support from a special resource provision.

"The provision is needed as there is a shortage of places in Medway, when built the provison would support 25 children across Years 7-13 but with the capability to increase numbers if needed. Parents were consulted with, very little to no objections."

The council said the cost for the project is still being worked on.

'The provision is needed as there is a shortage of places in Medway'

A decision on the plans is expected by Wednesday, December 14.

Earlier this month, councillors approved plans for a two-storey teaching block at The Hundred of Hoo Primary Academy, which is also run by Leigh Academies Trust.

Nationally, the number of children with EHCPs increased by a quarter in the last year, according to data published in the summer.

Assessments for children and young people aged up to 25 eligible for an EHCP should take 20 weeks to complete.

A report presented to Medway councillors last week shows there is an above-average number of children with an EHCP in Medway – 4.2% of 0 to 25 year-olds compared with the national average of 4%.

Of those still at school, there are around 7,200 children with a special educational need or disability, which is equivalent to four or five children in every class.