Sutton Council has declined to say whether it will house students in temporary huts if a new school is not built by 2017, when demand for places is expected to outstrip supply.

Liberal Democrats have been pressured in recent weeks to explain how they will cope with the borough’s increasing demand for places, after council leader Ruth Dombey said her group would veto Department of Education plans to build a new secondary school in Rosehill Park.

The council wants to build the school in Belmont, on a site it bought for £8m.

In a statement released through the council’s press office, Wendy Mathys, education committee chairman, said: “It is still much too early to say what arrangements would need to be put in place should the new school buildings not be completed.”

In a letter to the Department of Education, Coun Mathys admitted that the council’s decision “may set back the timetable for the new secondary school”.

Conservative councillor Neil Garratt said: “If some children start high school in a temporary “Portakabin school”, the blame will lie squarely with Sutton Lib Dems’ political games.”