Oxford City Council has been reported to the Government after complaints that it is holding up the building of a new church school.

Roman Catholics say plans for a new RC school in Cricket Road, Cowley, could suffer delays because the council has failed to decide the future of the St Augustine's School site in Iffley Turn.

The trustees of the RC Archdiocese of Birmingham applied to the council in July for outline planning permission to demolish the school buildings and build 48 semi-detached houses on the site.

The archdiocese needs to sell the site to raise cash to fund the construction of the new St Gregory the Great Catholic Secondary School.

Plans for the new school have already been set back by months of wrangling over the future of St Augustine's, the joint Anglican/Catholic school. The trustees fear St Gregory the Great will not be finished in time for its planned opening in September 2003.

They have appealed to the Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, to force the council to reach a decision or make a decision himself.

Fr Marcus Stock, Director of Schools for the Archdiocese of Birmingham Schools Commission, said St Gregory the Great would have to continue using facilities at St Augustine's if the building work was not completed in time.

He added: "Ultimately it will be the pupils who suffer."

Andrew Lewis, a planning officer at the city council, said the delay was due to a "communication breakdown".

He said the application had not been decided as the council had not received a development brief for the site, but was minded to approve it.