PLANS to open a £1 million school near Crewe are being opposed because it is in open countryside.

Picturesque Weston is said to need a new primary school to cope with an influx of families moving into luxury homes on the Wychwood Park development.

Cheshire Education chiefs say the existing village school on Main Road is old-fashioned and does not serve the needs of 21st Century children.

The Victorian building, owned by the Queen's Duchy of Lancaster estate, has to accommodate its 113 children in a cramped classrooms and mobiles.

A new school, on a field off East Avenue, would cater for 150 pupils in a bright and modern environment.

Although Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council sees the need for a new school, it has criticised the site chosen by Cheshire County Council.

It says the site is outside the Weston settlement boundary and not in the adopted Local Plan which earmarked land in Mere Road for a school.

It was expected to register the objections after a meeting yesterday.

A spokesman said: 'The borough council has clearly indicated from the start that it did not favour a site to the rear of East Avenue.

'There is concern about the provision of a safe access, congestion from parents parking in the highway and the impact on local residents, especially those in East Avenue where most of the occupants are elderly. The disturbance caused by parents parking would have an adverse impact on their lives.'

County education chiefs hope to get a new school up and running in Weston by September 2002.

It will be the second to be built in South Cheshire to serve new housing estates. Nantwich is to get a school to help cater for children from the Cronkinson Farm development.

A Cheshire County Council spokesman said: 'Wychwood Park increases pressure on us to build a new school. The borough council's view is disappointing considering the pressing need.'

The final decision will rest with the county because it owns the land and will operate the school.