BASILDON schools would be swamped if up to 6,000 homes were built on green belt to form a garden suburb.

Children living in the proposed Dunton Garden Suburb, between West Horndon and Laindon, would have to be taught in schools in either central Basildon or Brentwood, Essex County Council said.

But County Hall predicts Basildon will have only 22 primary school places left by 2016- 17, even before the new village is built, and Brentwood will have a deficit of 75 places.

More secondary school places are available, but most of the surplus is at the Basildon Academies – seven miles from the proposed development.

Campaigners fear the schoolrun could cause gridlock across the town, or force children from Langdon Hills and Laindon into the academies as new households take up places in Brentwood and Billericay.

Father-of-two Dr Philip Gibbs, 55, of Welbeck Drive, Langdon Hills, said: “It doesn’t make sense. Parents wouldn’t do it – they would move.

“People who have the means wouldn’t bus their children across the town to a school that isn’t doing well. They would move, and that wouldn’t do any good for the area.

“We want a place where people want to stay and grow up, not somewhere where they have to leave when their children get to secondary school.”

Kerry Smith, Independent Basildon councillor for Nethermayne and county councillor for Westley Heights, said: “If the Dunton Garden Suburb were ever to happen, children would be forced into the Basildon Academies, and junctions like Roundacre would seize up when schools open and close.

“All the junctions in Basildon would grind to a halt.”

Basildon, Brentwood and Essex county councils have admitted they have no idea how many children would live in the village, which has been proposed in a bid to help both boroughs meet housing targets.

The joint plan includes a train station, traveller pitches, industrial land and community facilities, but make no mention of a school.

However, Basildon Council has now admitted new schools would be needed if the scheme was to go ahead.

A Basildon Council spokesman said: “People in family homes tend to have more children than those in flats, so until we establish this mix it is hard to give a meaningful estimate.

“However, if the scheme is taken forward and a housing mix is established we will work with the local education authority to come up with proposals.

“A scheme of this scale would require new schools and public services and the council can place a planning obligation on developers to supply them.”

Phil Baker, chairman of Brentwood Council’s planning and development control committee, said: “The concept is at a very early stage because we wanted to do the consultation and find out what people think of the idea. We are still in the consultation period and it is not yet known if this will be anything more than an idea or will be taken forward.

"Until we know if this idea is going forward and what the housing mix would be, it is impossible to give a meaningful estimate.

"If the concept is taken forward and once it is established how many homes and what the housing mix would be, we would of course work with the local education authority. The council can place planning obligations on developers to supply the necessary infrastructure, schools and public services that would be required with a scheme of this scale.

"In the mean time, we would urge people to let us know what they think to help influence the process at this early stage by taking part in the consultation.”