A new special school for teenagers with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties is set to be built in South Norwood.

The school, in Tennison Road, will cater for 100 pupils aged 14 and over, according to plans drawn up by Croydon Council.

It will be built on the former site of the Priory School, for children with severe learning difficulties, which relocated to Upper Norwood in the summer last year.

The original Priory School building is due to be demolished in March.

The new school, linked to Beckmead School in Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, will offer 50 full-time places for pupils, including some with autistic spectrum disorders.

 The remaining 50 places will be for a selective vocational centre that teenagers from other special or mainstream secondary schools will attend either two or three days a week to learn skills for work.

Bricklaying, carpentry, car mechanics and painting and decorating, among other skills, will be taught in its workshops.

The one-storey school is expected to employ 65 staff. 

Councillor Andrew Rendle, Croydon Council's "autism champion" and father to an autistic son, said the school could provide much-needed support for children with difficulties, but added it was important some capacity was also available at mainstream schools. 

He said: "We need schools helping kids with autistic spectrum disorder.

"There is a need for special schools but also there is a need for units attached to mainstream schools where there can be some integration. We need a mix in Croydon."

The council is set to submit a planning application for the school later this month, with construction scheduled to begin in June if approved.

The building is also proposed to include a café and a boxing ring.

Beckmead School is currently the only of Croydon's six special schools to cater for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.