A new special school will be built in Gloucestershire to cope with increasing demand, it has been confirmed.

Details of where, when and how much it would cost are not publicly known but will be released later this year.

Gloucestershire County Council said the school will be built to cope with a rise in demand for school places that support children with special educational needs and disabilities.

At the end of May 2019, 57 children were placed in Gloucestershire’s special schools – 23 higher than May 2018.

The county council said many children are being sent out-of-county to go to a special school, adding that “we know that the numbers are continuing to grow”.

It added the new school will provide those places inside of the county.

A planning application for the new special school is in its early stages, the county council said.

Councillor Patrick Molyneux, cabinet member for educations and skills at the authority, said: “Like many other counties across the UK, Gloucestershire has seen an increase in the demand for school places that support children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs.

“We need to ensure there are enough of these specialist placements in the county and we have identified a need for a new purpose built special school.

“We are currently in the early planning stages of the project but will be able to provide more information about the new special school in the coming months.”

There are currently 10 special schools in Gloucestershire: four in Cheltenham; two in Stroud; and one in Tewkesbury, Gloucester, Forest of Dean and the Cotswolds.