A FIFE mum who is battling for safer buses was in Kirkcaldy yesterday to get on board with the nationwide Yellow School Bus Commission campaign for better school transport.

Lynn Merrifield from Kingseat went to Central Fife Retail Park to meet representatives of the major public consultation exercise, which provides people with an opportunity to have their say on the issue.

The Yellow School Bus Tour has visited more than 20 British towns and cities over the last few months and has Ms Merrifield’s full support.

She said, “This is a hugely important issue for any parent whose children travel to school by bus.

“My son went to school last year and he’s gone from travelling to nursery on a minibus fully fitted with seat belts to going on a double-decker with no seat belts that can be used by members of the public.”

After raising her concerns to Fife Council, Ms Merrifield petitioned the Scottish Parliament.

“We are due to hear back from the committee on March 18,” she said.

“If I took my child somewhere in the car with no seat belt and no booster seat, I would be charged; why should it be any different on a bus?

“It’s great to see the Yellow School Bus Tour come to Fife and, as well as people coming on board the bus to have their say and find out more about home-to-school transport, I would also urge people to visit the website www.ysbcommission.com to give their views,” she added.

The commission, headed by David Blunkett MP, was set up by transport operator First last year to examine the potential benefits of dedicated home-to-school transport programmes.

Mr Blunkett said, “Yellow school buses offer a range of valuable benefits, providing a safe and high quality means of carrying children to and from school, relieving congestion from our increasingly crowded towns and cities and consequently making a real contribution to reducing our impact on the environment and clim-ate change.

“With such powerful features in their favour we owe it to society to evaluate the best ways of delivering this sort of service and making recommendations on how we provide incentives to schools and local authorities to do so.

“I urge anyone with an interest in improving the quality of home-to-school transport to let us have their views, either by coming to the bus or by completing the questionnaire online.”

A report on the findings of the commission will be published in the spring.