A JEWISH school in Golders Green has been taken to the High Court after operating for almost eight years without having planning permission from authorities.

Barnet Council is seeking an injunction against Beis Hamedrash Elyon school, in Golders Green Road, after it breached planning laws and continued to enrol pupils.

The converted semi detached house has been in used to teach children aged ten to 15 from the Jewish Orthodox community since 2001, despite never being granted permission to hold classes.

The Government Planning Inspectorate dismissed an appeal in 2006 against a council decision not to allow the school to remain and ordered the closure of the school within 11 months.

But the orders have been ignored and council chiefs today met the school's lawyers and hierarchy in the High Court with the aim of gaining an injunction.

Following the latest rejection in April, planning bosses said: “The inappropriate development is a material breach of planning control and it is considered that there is a compelling need to effectively uphold planning control”.

Residents living near the school have complained about the damage caused by pupils, and planning documents submitted to the council have highlighted the property “by reason of its nature, results in increased activity, noise and disturbance which causes significant harm to the amenity of neighbouring occupiers”.

An Ofsted report in 2007 said “progress made by pupils in secular subjects is inadequate” and branded the overall quality of education as “inadequate”.

The school has found support however, with 82 letters being submitted in previous planning documents backing the facilities, including 29 from students and eight from rabbis in the community The council is now waiting on the verdict from the judge who presided over the case.