The number of primary school pupils taught in classes larger than 30 pupils has more than doubled in the West Midlands in the past four years, official figures show.

Labour accused the Government of squandering money on pet projects such as free schools instead of providing more teachers and classrooms where they were needed.

But Ministers said they had provided extra money for councils to offer new school places, while Labour had cut funding during a baby boom.

Figures published by the Department for Education show that 1,568 key stage one pupils in Birmingham are taught in classes larger than 30 pupils – up from 434 in 2010.

The last Labour government introduced a legal limit of 30 pupils for infant classes, except in exceptional circumstances such as a child being admitted on appeal.

But the Coalition has relaxed the rules, allowing a school to breach the limit for 12 months if it is working to ensure numbers are brought down the following year.

The number of key stage one pupils in classes with 31 or more pupils elsewhere in the region this year was 218 in Coventry, 279 in Dudley, 1,336 in Sandwell, 563 in Solihull and 279 in Walsall.

The recently published figures are a snapshot showing the situation in January this year.

Tristram Hunt, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “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.

“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.

“Labour will end the Free Schools programme and instead focus spending on areas in need of extra school places. The choice on education is clear: the threat of ever more children crammed into large class sizes under the Tories or a Labour future where we transform standards.”

“Young people today are “more creative, enquiring, ambitious, entrepreneurial and community spirited than ever before,” he said.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: “Tristram Hunt seems to have forgotten that it was Labour who cut 200,000 primary school places in the middle of a baby boom – at the same time as letting immigration get out of control.

“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 billion, creating 260,000 new places. But Labour haven’t learnt their lesson. Their policy of not trusting head teachers would create more bureaucrats, meaning more resources are spent on paperwork – not places. Children would have a worse future under Labour.”

Almost 4,500 infant classes have been added since 2010, making the total number of infant classes in 2014 larger than it has been in any year since 2002, officials said.

The percentage of pupils in classes of over 36 has fallen since 2010 from 0.8 per cent to 0.7 per cent.

Key stage one classes with 31 or more pupils

Local authority 2010 2014

Birmingham 434 1,568

Coventry 96 218

Dudley 31 279

Herefordshire 159 250

Sandwell 186 1,336

Shropshire 281 190

Solihull 219 563

Staffordshire 310 876

Stoke-on-Trent 791 1,036

Telford and Wrekin 0 125

Walsall 93 279

Warwickshire 301 1,063

Wolverhampton 62 1,000

Worcestershire 282 529