COUNCIL leader Ray Puddifoot told a residents' meeting on Tuesday (9) that the urgent need for more school places in the borough had been caused largely by immigration.

The Tory councillor, who has led Hillingdon Council for ten years, said economic migrants from the European Union (EU) had placed added pressure on the education system and left the borough with a classroom shortage.

He told the Eastcote Open Forum in St Lawrence Church Hall: "It is not about housing, it is about that fact that we had a lot of economic migrants from the EU.

"The government estimated they would go back, but they haven't. So it falls on us.

"It is a major problem for us but it is not because more houses are being built, but because of immigration to London."

He added: "I'm not being racist that's just the way it is."

The council has been told it needs to find at least an additional 26 'forms' of 30 primary school children by September 2014. It's previous plans had accounted for 19 classes.

Explaining his comments to the Gazette on Wednesday (10), Councillor Puddifoot (Ickenham, Conservative), said: "Because we were taken unaware by this, it suddenly went up from four [forms] to 19 and then to 26.

"It went up like a rocket. What we were told was the inward migration was for economic reasons and then they would go back home because our country is in a recession.

"But they haven't. I am not saying they don't have a right to be here, I am saying the ONS [office for National Statistics] got it badly wrong."

He continued: "We are planning for 34 extra classrooms  because pupils don't all go to the same place.

"We know where 14 of them are going, in time for September 2011. We are extending seven schools but we will have to build more schools, including one on the RAF Uxbridge site."