More primary school places have to be found for Jewish Orthodox children in the near future or the borough will face a serious problem of overcrowding, Barnet's education chief said this week.

Speaking as it transpired that 90 children applied for six places in one Jewish primary school in Mill Hill this year, Councillor John Marshall said: "We must address this with some urgency, because it's going to become more of a problem rather than less."

Suzanne Kushner, headteacher of Mathilda Marks Kennedy Jewish Primary School, in Hale Lane, Mill Hill, said the shortage of places in Jewish primary schools was acute and that her school had been inundated with queries and applications for places in September.

She said: "Last year we had 65 applications and it has risen to 90 this year, which is 30 per cent more applications. And it is not necessarily a local problem: we have had applications from Arkley, as well as from Hendon and Golders Green and from Mill Hill."

Mathilda Marks Kennedy was named eighth in the country for its value added' levels in the league tables this year. Mrs Kushner said most Jewish primary schools were oversubscribed because many parents were beginning to turn to faith-based education. The growing number of pupils could also be put down to an increasing number of Jewish families moving into the area, she said. "All the Barnet schools have the same problem. I would love nothing better than to find a site to expand the school."

Mr Marshall said: "I'd certainly be very happy for the school to expand because popular and oversubscribed schools should be allowed to expand, but the simple fact of the matter is we haven't got the space.

"All of them are over-subscribed and projections are that it could be even more next year because the birth rate in the Orthodox community is fairly high. Clearly this cannot be ignored."