A “major milestone” has been reached in the push to tackle the increasing demand for school places.

Sutton needs two new secondary schools to cope with the growing number of children in the primary sector and the council says it has taken a significant step towards that goal.

Sutton Council has been granted “priority purchaser” status for the largely boarded up Sutton Hospital site in Belmont, currently owned by Epsom St Helier NHS Trust, but declared surplus to requirements.

When land is disposed by the NHS it must be placed on a “register of surplus” sites so other public sector organisations can bid. The council must pay market value.

Councillor Wendy Mathys, chairman of the children, family and education committee, said: “By being positioned next to world-class institutions such as the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden, we hope to develop unique links to the life sciences.

“If the Life Science Cluster happens, then it will be part of a ladder of opportunity for Sutton residents.

“We have been very proactive in identifying this site, approaching Epsom and St Helier and then securing priority purchaser status.

“There are a lot of hoops still to go through. Once the feasibility work is done, the next step will be to talk to residents about the plans.”

The new school would supplement expansion since 2008, which has already seen the creation of 18 permanent and 20 temporary classes built at Primary and Secondary level.

Sutton expects the sale and purchase to be completed by the end of March 2015.

Tim Crowley, leader of the Conservative opposition group at Sutton Council, said: “At the moment they haven’t got the money to purchase the land and they won’t know until the middle of January.

“There’s a risk we could be left with a bit of a black hole if they don’t get the money through.

“We want two schools built, but we want them in the right place and we don’t think that site is big enough at the moment.

“The site is the same size as Stanley Park. Stanley Park has 1,100 pupils in and they want to put 1,800 in Sutton Hospital.

“They’ll be cramming them all in.

“They admit themselves it’s a very small site for that amount of pupils. There are no playing fields. Where will they do PE?

“There haven’t got enough space.

“Also the school isn’t in an area where we need it. It will have a catchment area that includes Banstead and other parts of Surrey.”

On Monday, December 15, Sutton’s strategy and resources committee gave permission for negotiations to commence to buy the site with a view to the school opening in 2017.