Parents have called for a former comprehensive in Bristol to be reopened as a primary school.

Their calls have been given a boost by the city council, which has confirmed it has looked again at the possibility of turning the former Fairfield School site in Fairlawn Road, Montpelier, into a primary.

Its verdict is that this could be done – but there are problems and it would be expensive.

B PAC, the group campaigning on behalf of the 300 parents across the city who have yet to be offered a reception class place for their children for September, thinks that using Fairfield was worth considering, as it could help families in St Paul's as well as those in the lower part of Bishopston.

Rachel Milne, from the group, said: "This could be a good temporary solution for many parents."

Mrs Milne, 33, from Brynland Avenue, Bishopston, a physiotherapist, who is seeking a place for her four-year-old daughter Rosie, said: "It makes sense to use this building, which is already a school. It would surely be a cheaper and better option than bussing dozens of children across the city."

Community organisation St Paul's Unlimited has also campaigned for some time to turn Fairfield into a primary school.

The council said in a statement: "We have had a feasibility study done on the old Fairfield school to see if it could be used as a primary school for up to 420 pupils.

"It has its own inherent problems but it could be done."

Fairfield – whose past pupils include Hollywood idol Cary Grant – closed in March 2006 when pupils and staff moved to a £19 million new school off Muller Road.

The building was then used for a year to house the first pupils of the new Redland Green School, until that secondary was ready.

Part of it is now being used for a pupil referral unit for children aged seven to 11 who cannot attend normal lessons for a range of reasons, a base for the city's hospital education service and for offices.

The council had intended to sell the site and use the proceeds towards the new Fairfield.

More recently, it has looked at various options to make use of the buildings or site to help tackle the city's shortage of primary places.

These have included:

Rebuilding St Barnabas Church of England Primary in Montpelier on the old Fairfield site at twice its current size;

Using the old Fairfield buildings as temporary accommodation for St Barnabas pupils and staff while their school is rebuilt and expanded on their current site.

It had been thought that converting the Victorian buildings in Fairlawn Road into a stand-alone, new 21st century primary school would be too expensive, because of the need to meet standards for access for disabled people and space requirements.

But the council statement says the Disability Discrimination Act could be met by internal work. Officers believe the historic buildings could not be demolished.

The biggest difficulties to be overcome, they say, would be meeting external space rules for facilities such as soft play and playing fields, which are covered by guidelines known as BB99.

There would also be issues about what to do with the parts of the building not used for schooling.

Council spokeswoman Katharine de Lisle said: "If it were seen as appropriate to develop a school at the old Fairfield school it would need a cabinet decision to approve capital allocation, spend and the statutory process."