A group of parents are trying to set up a new school in Mortlake, despite a school already having approval to run in the same place.

Livingstone Academy is currently set to open on the former Stag Brewery site, even though it had been first approved by the government to open in Tower Hamlets, without the normal local consultation and competition in Richmond.

Some parents are now preparing to bid to run a school there themselves, challenging Livingstone Academy’s permission.

One parent, Richard Buggs, who previously organised a petition calling for a public consultation and competition for the site, said: “We think it’s a different kind of school that we are proposing, with a classic approach to education.”

Livingstone Academy would have a big focus on digital skills, with the original application promising to become a “flagship for computing, computer science and creative thinking pioneering future schooling”.

Mr Buggs said: “Some local parents might prefer what [Livingstone Academy provider] Aspirations Academies Trust is offering, but we think the majority of parents will prefer our proposal.

“Some of us were involved in the initial petition. We met with the council and they said they can’t do a competition.

“So we thought ‘what can we do to try to have one?’ and decided to put in our own application for the site. It would give a viable alternative to Livingstone Academy.”

The school would be called Thomas Cromwell School, named after Henry VIII’s adviser who once owned the site.

Cromwell rose from humble beginnings as the son of a blacksmith to being the king’s chief minister, and one of the most prominent advocates of the English Reformation, before he fell out of favour in 1540 and was executed.

Mr Buggs said: “We thought that was a really good historic link – a good name with a real local connection.”

The school would open in partnership with Fulham Boys School, with links to the independent St Paul’s School in Barnes, which opened in 1509.

Mr Buggs said: “It would be a school put forward by local people and supported by local people.

“And there would be a strong local link with a very good school.”

The Department for Education has previously said the “transfer” of approval from east to south west London was a reaction to the changing needs of local areas.

A spokeswoman was unable to confirm whether existing permission can be superseded by a new application, saying: “We assess all applications on a case-by-case basis.”

The application needs to be submitted by November 1; to show support for Thomas Cromwell School, visit cromwellschool.org.uk.