A Suffolk mum-of-four has hit out at a school bus service which she said has been late almost every day since term began.
Liane, whose son takes the Simonds EE302 from Yaxley to Hartismere High School, said the bus, which stops twice in the village before its final destination, has only been on time once since the school year began.
She said the bus, which is meant to arrive at Maple Close at 8.35am and the Cherry Tree at 8.37am, has arrived in the village as late as 8.57am, when pupils are due on the school site at 8.45am.
Liane said this is stressful for parents who have sometimes had to make quick arrangements to ensure their children are not late to school, and added that it is impacting her son, who has a Suffolk County Council-issued travel pass, and his education.
"I have four children that all go off in different directions so I rely on these services that have been put in place by the council to enable my children to get to their place of education," Liane said.
"Attending school is a government requirement and if my kids don't they will be on my case. But what do they want me to do - I don't have a broomstick."
The EE302 is a Suffolk County Council dedicated school bus route, meaning only children with a valid bus pass can travel, and is provided by Simonds bus company.
Liane said she thinks Simonds and Suffolk County Council need to come together to create a better service for the benefit of the young people.
"This service isnt acceptable. They [Simonds] have taken a contract on from the county council to make sure our children arrive to and from school safely and currently I can't trust that they are even going to turn up. They are being paid for a service that they are not providing," she said.
A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: “We are aware of issues and hope to get these resolved as quickly as possible.
“We were at the school yesterday afternoon to chat through the situation with the bus operator and the headteacher.”
A Simonds bus company spokesperson said: "We are aware of some issues with the bus service since schools returned earlier this month.
"We are working hard with Suffolk County Council and the school to resolve them as quickly as possible."
This comes after a dad who faced four hours of driving each day to drop his son off at Hartismere High School branded a decision to axe the public bus route he had been using, 'shortsighted'.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said his son had used the 310 public bus run by operator Simonds, to get to Hartismere High School since he lives out of the catchment area.
But, just before term began, the dad said he was told this route had been axed and replaced with the 311, a Suffolk County Council contracted school bus which does not allow children out of catchment to travel.
He said: "We found out a week and a half, maybe two weeks ago, before school was due to return.
"We are now leaving earlier in the morning, we are using a lot more petrol and for me it is a round trip of two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.
"I have got a very, very sympathetic boss at the minute but if something came up at work I don't know what I would do."
