Emergency plans to relieve Merton’s deepening primary school places crisis have been thrown into disarray with doubts over construction of a new school.

Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond launched a tirade against Merton Council in Parliament after it emerged councillors were considering shelving the project in favour of expanding existing schools.

But furious members of Merton’s new Labour administration claim budget cuts imposed by Whitehall will mean a new school, earmarked for north Wimbledon, could sit empty with no money to pay teachers.

An anticipated 25 per cent increase in the number of Merton four-year-olds, between 2007 and 2012, is leaving the area’s schools at breaking point, with two new forms of entry needed urgently.

The previous Conservative council agreed plans to build a new school that would open in 2012, but new cabinet members appear to be favouring the expansion of other schools – even though nearly £10m of capital investment for the project has been secured.

Councillor Peter Walker, cabinet member for education, said: “We’ve been told by Michael Gove to reduce our schools budget by nearly £1m in the next year, and expect further cuts to follow. The reality is we could build a new school and have no money to put teachers in it.”

He added expansion of existing schools would place less strain on teaching budget and could be done using the existing capital fund.

Mr Hammond told David Cameron, at Prime Minister’s Questions last week, the council was endangering the education of Merton children by refusing to commit to the construction of a new school.

Outside Parliament, he said: “While Labour MPs are jumping up and down because their Government made promises on secondary schools that could not be fulfilled, in Merton we have a situation where the funds for a new primary school are there, but the political will is not.

“This is total indecision and could see more school places delivered a year too late.