PARENTS of Monmouth Comprehensive School pupils and a county councillor have voiced alarm after children were prevented from getting onto their school bus and left by the side of the road.

On the way to school on Monday morning (12th September), children who had forgotten their bus passes were left stranded at a bus stop in Trellech.

The issue was highlighted by County Councillor Debby Blakebrough, who approached the Beacon after she was contacted by the parents of children.

The bus driver apparently explained he was acting under a directive from Monmouthshire Transport which instructed drivers to deny access unless a bus pass was shown, despite the fact the pupils were wearing uniform and had used the service for more than three years.

The pupils left stranded in Trellech were a 14-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl who had left their bus passes at home.

Despite poor mobile phone signal in the area, the girl managed to get hold of her mother who arranged to get them to school.

The mother questioned the reasoning behind leaving school pupils by the side of the road, and asked whether the system should have safeguards incase of a loss of bus pass. She said: “I’m surprised that the bus driver thought it was okay to leave children ages 14 and 15 by the side of the road without any means of getting to school. Luckily for those two children we were there to get them into school, but it’s a bizarre thing that the county council would think that it’s fine.

“They were in uniform and bus passes have never been a thing that has been checked daily, as she’s been catching the bus since year seven. For me, it’s human error for leaving the bus pass at home, but I think the reaction to just leave the children by the side of the road is over the top.

“Imagine if it was a year seven pupil, as not all of them have a mobile phone. Signal is pretty poor in the area, so it’s very worrying as anything could have happened. You would have thought Monmouthshire County Council would have some duty of care.”

County Councillor Debby Blakebrough raised the issue with Monmouthshire Transport department, asking if it would be possible for the bus driver to take the names of those who do not have a bus pass so the department could later contact the parents. She explained: “I’m concerned this policy is at odds with the council’s statutory duty to provide under sixteens with transport to school and our duty of care to ensure their safety.”

Cllr Blakebrough added: “I am anxious that by refusing to take them to school we are denying them access to an education and leaving them unaccompanied is a safeguarding issue.”

A spokesperson for MCC’s Passenger Transport and Transport Strategy, Richard Cope, said: “While most local authorities apply a policy of ‘no pass no travel’ we issue operators and drivers with passenger lists.

“Our drivers are instructed that children without a bus pass are only allowed on the council’s school transport if their names appear on a list. Unfortunately, it appears that the driver of the bus didn’t follow this instruction and we can only apologise for this. I have re-iterated the policy to him and stressed that if children allege that they are pass holders he should confirm this by checking they are included on the passenger list.

“Each year we experience problems when pupils who don’t qualify for free transport, or haven’t applied for transport, board our buses and expect to travel. This situation happened at the start of term when pupils ineligible for transport accessed the service. “This causes a health and safety and safeguarding problem. Our system is in place to eliminate non-authorised travel, ensure that vehicles operate within their passenger capacity and to maintain the safety of pupils.

“We will request the school to contact parents of children without transport and underline the need for them to make suitable travel arrangements.”