The last government spent £1.2m on plans for a secondary school in Stevenage, before the idea was scrapped due to a lack of need.

The Michaela Community School Stevenage would have been a co-educational, non-faith school for 11 to 19 year olds, with a capacity of 1,260 places.

In 2022, permission was granted by Stevenage Borough Council for the former Collenswood and Barnwell School buildings in Shephall to be demolished, and the new academy built in their place.

However, the Michaela Community Schools Trust - an academy trust which already operates one school in Wembley - withdrew its planning application.

Department for Education papers now show that £1.2 million was spent on helping Katherine Birbalsingh, headteacher of the Michaela Community School in Wembley, launch the Stevenage school.

Simon O’Hara, of the Anti-Academies Alliance, told the i newspaper: "This money would have been desperately needed at schools across the country suffering from budget shortfalls, and those involved in this ideological folly should be held financially responsible."

Ms Birbalsingh said the decision not to open a school in Stevenage was indirectly due to Covid.

She explained: "Sadly, Covid scuppered Stevenage plans for more housing to be built. This meant that there was no need for another secondary school.

"As we are not in the business of undermining existing schools and threatening them with closure, we withdrew our application for a new school."

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We keep all free school projects in the pre-opening stage under review to ensure they only open when we are confident that they will be viable, sustainable, and successful. However, on this occasion, the trust took the decision to withdraw the Michaela School project when it became clear there was reduced need for places across the local area.

"We will always aim to recover assets and identify alternative educational uses for sites, ensuring learning needs in the area can still be met."

The Michaela Community School Wembley, founded by Ms Birbalsingh in 2014, has the reputation of being Britain's strictest school, with its strict discipline, silent corridors and traditional approach to teaching.