The school is to be sited on a playing field site in Redland

The playing fields in the leafy suburb were the council's favoured site, although many parents said the area was too small.

Councillors had twice turned down proposals to build primary schools on the fields, which are in a conservation area.

Plans for the school are part of a huge shake-up of education services in the city.

Exam results in Bristol are among the lowest in the country and many parents send their children to school outside the area.

'Educational attainment'

The council hopes a series of measures, including the new school, will help reverse this trend.

Councillor Peter Hammond said: "We have listened closely to the arguments made for and against both sites.

"Inevitably, the decision to confirm Redland as the preferred site will not find universal favour.

"We have taken into consideration many factors, but principally the need to increase educational attainment in Bristol.

"Formal consultation on the establishment of a new school at Redland and its catchment area will now go ahead."