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Pupils in Barking could end up having their lessons in a PUB after the scrapping of the school building programme left their local authority short of school places.
The Harrow public house is reported to be on a list of East London sites that could be turned into classrooms as officials struggle to accommodate pupils.
The Mirror reports that the council is also considering a three day week 'split shift system' for pupils if places cannot be found.
Rocky Gill, deputy leader of Barking & Dagenham council, said they were in a 'desperate situation'.
"It is incredibly short-sighted of the Government to axe the schools building programme. It would also have created jobs, particularly for young people, and acted as a boost to the economy," he said.
The council are said to also be considering turning a former MFI warehouse, a disused court house and empty Woolworths and Comet stores into stop-gap schools.
It is thought around 35,000 pupils across the country are attending overcrowded primary schools after the decision was made to scrap the Government's £300million building programme earlier this year.
Education officials in Brighton are reportedly considering holding lessons in bingo halls, unused churches and a football stadium.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said that extra funding was being allocated to schools and that Barking would be receiving £89.8million between 2011 and 2013.
"The Government is now providing an extra £1billion to build new free schools and academies and expand good schools in those areas with the most pressure on pupil places," she said.