A second bidder to create a new secondary school in Merton has thrown its hat into the education ring.

The Harris Federation announced its intention to open a secondary free school in Wimbledon after an application was put in by charity Chapel St and approved by the Government.

The Chapel St school would have the school across three different sites in Merton but a precise location has not been revealed.

A spokeswoman from the Harris Federation, which the council has made clear is very much its preferred organisation to run a secondary school in the borough, confirmed it had formally submitted its application to the Department of Education (DofE) on Thursday, October 2.

The news comes weeks after the federation took over the former Garden Primary School in Mitcham, now renamed the Harris Primary Academy Merton.

A new headteacher, Vikki Forbes, is in place and the federation said it was approached by Merton Council to step in after an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted ruling.

The spokeswoman said: "Harris, which already runs two successful and highly oversubscribed secondary academies in the borough, was approached by the council after the predecessor school, Garden Primary, received an ‘inadequate’ judgement by Ofsted in September 2013."

It said results of its initial consultation into a secondary school in the borough had strong local support, with 64 per cent of parents interviewed by them across 10 schools interested in sending their child to a new Harris free school.

Merton Council’s cabinet member for education, Councillor Martin Whelton, said: "We think Harris has got a strong track record of delivering a high standard of performance.

"We want the best possible start for for the children in our schools.

"We would have liked to have seen both applications considered together."

Coun Whelton said the council had zero tolerance for schools that did not perform well.

The application will be considered by the DofE in due course.