A SCHOOL claims its £450,000 debt could double within five years unless it is given more funds.

Kelsey Park School, in Manor Way, Beckenham, has faced a shortfall in funds since 1996 when student numbers dropped dramatically following a critical Ofsted report.

But despite a glowing Ofsted report last year, improving exam results and a record number of applications, the school could be £1m in debt by 2007.

Headmaster Richard Harknett, who joined the school in 1997, said: "We turned the school around through very hard work and it is now thriving. But we're not getting enough money for what we want to do."

Kelsey Park will double its current intake to 200 pupils in September, bringing the new total to 934 students.

A new £1.5m extension providing six extra classrooms will open this September to cope with the increasing student numbers.

The school has also bid for specialist school status as a sports college which would see numbers boosted further.

But there is widespread concern this year's £2.7m budget will not be enough to maintain standards.

The council determines the majority of a school's budget according to the number of its pupils but Kelsey Park will not reach its optimum size until the smaller year groups work their way through the school.

The school will owe the £450,000 to Bromley Council which covers overspending schools' debts.

Colin Thompson, chairman of finance at the school, said: "We are asking the council to revise the allocation formula because it is inadequate for a small school. Kelsey Park will owe £450,000 at the end of this financial year and if we carry on as we are now, in five years time we will owe £1m.

"We can't take money to repay the debt at the expense of reducing the ability to buy books for the boys," he added.

Bromley Council's director of education Ken Davis said: "Due to the current lower numbers at Kelsey, the budget is less than it ought to be and we need to find a way to sort the debt out over a period of time."