Plans to build a new secondary school in Didcot took a major step forward today.

Members of Oxfordshire County Council's decision-making cabinet agreed to create a specification for a new school at Great Western Park, to the west of the town.

The council predicts 850 more secondary school places will be needed in Didcot by 2013 - and an additional 700 by 2020.

The town currently has two single sex secondary schools - St Birinus and Didcot Girls. Both have limited capacity to expand.

Michael Waine, cabinet member for schools improvement, said: "Our duty is to provide parental choice.

"Didcot is an expanding town and we need to have the facilities in place."

By law, interested parties such as universities, religious groups and charities must be able to bid to build and run any new educational facility for pupils under 16.

Mr Waine said that at the moment, the county council was "stepping back".

He added: "If we hit a point where the competition process doesn't look likely to give the quality of establishment that we would hope for, we would have to consider our position."