A new £13.6m shared faith schools' joint campus for Catholic and Jewish communities in East Renfrewshire has been given the go-ahead.

It's believed the shared faith school would be Britain's first Catholic/Jewish joint campus, and possibly the first in Europe.

The proposed site for the new £13.6million campus at Waterfoot Road, opposite Mearns Castle High in Newton Mearns, has been deemed suitable by the Planning Reporter.

The campus would be a new, additional, Catholic primary school with non-denominational nursery serving the area and a replacement building for the existing Jewish primary and nursery, Calderwood Lodge.

Consultation is currently taking place on the design of the new facilities at the campus.

The campus would have separate pupil entrances, and classroom wings, as well as headteachers for the two schools/nursery classes.

The playground would be shared and it is proposed that other areas would be shared such as sports and music facilities.

Kosher catering and dining facilities would be provided for Calderwood Lodge.

It is intended that the Calderwood Lodge school building will close at the end of the 2016/17 school year, with the faith schools' joint campus opening for the start of the 2017/18 school session.

The council agreed in October last year to undertake an informal consultation with the Catholic and Jewish communities. Both expressed a wish to go ahead with the proposal.

East Renfrewshire council say there is a need for an additional Catholic primary for Newton Mearns area to meet demand.

It would operate alongside Newton Mearns' existing denominational primary school, St Cadoc's.

Calderwood Lodge, although owned and managed by East Renfrewshire Council, is located in Newlands, Glasgow.

The local authority also says there has been a wish locally to have the school located in East Renfrewshire, where most of the school's Jewish pupils live.

East Renfrewshire pupils at Calderwood Lodge would continue to transfer to Mearns Castle High, their current associated high school, and the new Catholic primary would be associated with St Ninian's High.