Some 125 children escaping from war-torn Ukraine have been registered with schools in Richmond borough.

Details have been revealed in a report for Richmond Borough Council, which suggests the figure is expected to rise sharply in the coming months.

The same report warns that a number of major housing developments in the east of the borough confirm the urgen' need for a new Secondary School on the Stag Brewery site on the banks of the Thames in Mortlake.

The Richmond area has been a magnet for families from Ukraine with hundreds of families in the area opening up their homes.

A report to the Council's Schools Forum states: "To date, applications for mainstream school places within the borough for 125 Ukrainian children and young people: 83 primary-aged and 42 secondary-aged.

"Given the high number of households in the borough which have registered to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, it is likely that these application numbers will increase significantly. As at 16 May, more than 400 visas had been registered to Ukrainians due to arrive in Richmond."

At the same time, some 464 children have arrived in the borough's schools from Hong Kong since they start of the 2020/21 school year under a special visa regime offering refuge from China's increasingly authoritarian grip.

On Hong Kong, the report said some 333 primary age children and 131 of secondary age have joined schools in the borough.

It said: "Richmond is one of four boroughs in London which has experienced such large numbers, the others being Barnet, Kingston and

Sutton.

"The numbers of arrivals from Hong Kong are anticipated to continue as the situation there further deteriorates."

By contrast Richmond has seen relatively few families and children from Afghanistan registering for schools – just three at primary level and five at secondary.

The report, which has been drawn up to help assess the future need for school places, has found that Brexit – and associated immigrations controls - has had no impact on the number of children from EU nations arriving in the borough. In fact, there has been a large increase.

A pupil census puts the figure at 519 in 2021/22, which is up from 325 before the EU referendum in 2015.

The report argues that a new secondary school on the Stag site – to be called Livingstone Academy West London – is necessary for the Council to meet its legal duty to provide a sufficient number of places in the east of the borough

Many residents in the area are fighting against the school development, arguing that it is not necessary and will turn the area's roads into a permanent jam.

The study argues that the current secondary schools serving this part of the borough, Grey Court, Christs and Richmond Park Academy are already massively oversubscribed.

Consequently, they would be unable to cope with the numbers of extra children associated with major home developments.

These include 1,250 at the Stag Brewery site; 453 on the Homebase site, East Sheen, an extra 260 in a redevelopment of Ham Close; and 106 at Barnes Hospital. A development is also anticipated on Kew Retail Park.

It states: "The Council would soon be at high risk of not meeting its statutory duty unless the proposed new secondary school, Livingstone Academy West London, opened on the Stag Brewery site within a reasonably short period."

The conclusions of the study suggest opponents of the scheme will struggle to win the day when the housing and redevelopment scheme goes through the planning system later this year.