A special school is to relocate in a £4.9m plan.

Lydgate School will move from New Mill into the current Almondbury Junior School building which will be extended, remodelled and refurbished, likely by September 2016.

It will provide support for 164 pupils with complex needs.

Kirklees Cabinet members also backed changes to Longley School, which will become an autism specialist school with 80 places for children aged up to 19.

Clr Shabir Pandor, Cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “These changes are a vital step forward for our special schools.

“They will provide the best facilities and help us to meet the growing demand for specialist support. They will ensure high-quality learning environments, enhancing the life chances of some of our most vulnerable children.”

Lydgate School will increase its capacity to 164 – all for children with complex needs - and relocate from New Mill to Almondbury.

Clr Nigel Patrick, Holme Valley South Conservative, asked what would become of the Lydgate site.

Clr Pandor replied that “it will be landbanked”.

During a later debate about council assets, Clr Patrick asked if the Lydgate site could be explored for future education use considering housing plans pending for the area.

Kirklees admits it will be “challenging” to deliver the works within the £4.95m budget. The council will borrow the money over a 20-year period, with interest of £362,000 per year.