BCC is lobbying for a 14th grammar school to be introduced in time for the 21,000 home expansion plans across Aylesbury Vale during the next 20 years.

Councillors said they agreed to growth plans for the Vale subject to an agreement over the expansion in infrastructure to meet the demands in population growth.

Cllr Marion Clayton said there was always talk of needing two new upper schools in the area, and added that one grammar school might be required.

Under current legislation as part of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, parents can ballot to get rid of existing grammar schools but the expansion or construction of new grammar schools is prohibited.

However, the Conservatives are preparing to challenge the Government over this, as they feel that there are ways of adding additional places in the grammar school system, while not necessarily building an entirely new school.

Cllr Clayton stressed that extending grammar places is necessary and said the news did not contradict previous Conservative policies on secondary education.

In the meantime, however, no further decisions are being made over the issue and the county council is currently working with figures to establish the amount of extra school places required.

Earlier this year, Conservative Party leader David Cameron went against traditional Tory policies by not supporting the potential for new grammar schools.

He said there was a need for more independent state schools.

Cllr Clayton denied that the plans clashed with Tory party policy.

She said: "In June, the Conservative parliamentary education team confirmed that additional grammar school places might be permitted in growth areas which were considered fully selective.

"Buckinghamshire was specifically mentioned as one of those. We are at the very early stages of the planning process and much will depend on what type of housing developers apply to build in future, and subsequent requirements for school places as a result of that."

David Lidington MP supported Cllr Clayton's assertion that BCC's policies are coherent with Tory policies. He said he felt that in areas where the selective and grammar school system is in operation, it would be sensible to build on the system that is already in place.

Lib Dem county councillor Niknam Hussain expressed concern over the news.

He said: "I am very disappointed and angry that at a time when the county council keeps arguing that it can't invest in school's infrastructure that it has now announced spending money on lawyers and legal costs to challenge the current law."

He also expressed serious concern over the admissions policy and the effect it would have on grammar school intake when the area's population grows over the coming years.

Cllr Hussain was not convinced that the grammar school system accommodates ethnic minorities and lower-class families.

Do you think a new grammar school should be built in Aylesbury?

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