Primary schools in England are overcrowded, with some classrooms featuring as many as 70 pupils, according to Labour.

Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said that since the coalition government came to power in 2010, classrooms sizes have “spiralled by 200 per cent”.

Mr Hunt cited data that reveals 40,000 children in England are being taught in classrooms of more than 36 pupils; more than a third are being taught along with more than 40; 5,817 are in classrooms of over 50; 2,556 in classes over 60 and 446 in classes over 70.

Labour believes that if this trend continues at its present pace, then by 2020, 450,000 primary school children will be receiving education in a classroom that has an average of 30 pupils in it.

"In 2008 David Cameron said 'The more we can get class sizes down the better', but as parents and pupils prepare to begin the new school year, there are real concerns about the number of children in classes of more than 30 infants under the Tories," commented Mr Hunt.

"By diverting resources away from areas in desperate need of more primary school places in favour of pursuing his pet project of expensive free schools in areas where there is no shortage of places, David Cameron has created classes of more than 40, 50, 60 and even 70 pupils.”

He said that it would take a Labour government to end the free schools programme, which would free up spending. This would be used to help areas in need of extra school places.

Responding to Mr Hunt’s criticisms, education secretary Nicky Morgan said that Mr Hunt appears to have forgotten that a Labour government actually cut the number of primary school places “in the middle of a baby boom” by 200,000.

“As part of our long-term economic plan, the difficult decisions we've taken have meant we've been able to double the funding to local authorities for school places to £5 billlion, creating 260,000 new places,” she continued.

"But Labour haven't learnt their lesson. Their policy of not trusting headteachers would create more bureaucrats, meaning more resources are spent on paperwork – not places. Children would have a worse future under Labour."