THE number of pupils attending a secondary school in East Lothian is expected to increase by 40 per cent as more housing is built.

Ross High School in Tranent will see over £9million invested in expanding its classrooms as it prepares for the huge rise in students.

The school, which had a roll of 1,149 youngsters two years ago, expects that number to rise to 1,599 in the next couple of years.

In November, East Lothian Council granted planning permission to erect an extension to the south side of the current school building to create a new multi-purpose hall, changing area and a new energy centre.

Last week, a further planning application for an extension to the west of the building was also given the go-ahead.

The latest extension, which will be linked to the main school building by a new corridor, will be two storeys high and house the arts department, business studies and modern languages, with up to 16 new classrooms included.

The arts department will include space which can either be used as four classrooms or two larger workshops with moveable partitions.

The design statement on the new extension said: “The completed building will provide state-of-the-art teaching and social space facilities in line with the client’s brief, as well as promoting energy efficiency and offering facilities which signal the high value placed on learning at Ross High School.”

Granting planning permission for the latest phase of the school extension, council officers said they had received no public objections to the proposals.

They said: “Overall, the proposals would be of an acceptable design and scale and would not appear out of character when viewed within the surrounding area.”