The mother of an Angus seven-year-old left to walk 40 minutes to school has “lost patience” with bus operators and her local authority.
Cold, wet and in tears by the roadside, youngsters Yvie Shelton and Fraser Stewart waited for a school bus that never came.
Yvie and Fraser, 8, were dropped off on their own by a driver who did not tell them their lift to Northmuir Primary had broken down earlier that morning.
The Memus pair walked for 40 minutes in the rain to get to school in Kirriemuir, after they were left beside a roundabout.
Yvie’s parents Angela Medlock and Mark Shelton have had meetings with the council to ensure it does not happen again.
But they have “given up” after Angus Council produced three options for getting the youngsters to and from school safely while vetoing the first two.
When her children return to school after the holiday, they will be left at a friend’s house on the bus route closer to Kirriemuir.
She said: “The reason for this is that the poor child has been left very anxious by the incident, sometimes to the point of distress.
“At least if she is travelling with her friends, it should help her feel a little less anxious.
“Even if we were complying exactly with the council’s option catching the bus at Memus and Shielhill junction this would still involve driving five miles per day, which is very frustrating when there is a bus passing the door.”
Angus Council previously acknowledged a “distressing incident” for the families but said it is not always possible to know the whereabouts of fare-paying children using public transport before bell-time.
Fraser’s mum Julie, 38, found out the children had been dropped at Knowehead, near Webster’s High School, when a friend saw them 20 minutes after the school’s roll call.
The friends had got on the public bus close to their homes in Memus on Monday.
Angus pupils are entitled to free school transport inside a school’s catchment area who live more than two miles from a primary or three miles from a secondary school.
Those on a placing request like Fraser and Yvie are not so entitled.
Local firm JP Coaches said its public service K17 had broken down and was running 30 minutes late.
The operator said it has “no obligations” towards children who are not part of its Angus Council school run contract.
However transport manager Jason Rodger said the firm accepted responsibility for the bus breakdown and did send another.
Mark said he “couldn’t understand” why the children themselves were not told to stay home or wait at the roundabout.
Angela added: “The whole situation could have been avoided if JP coaches had taken some responsibility.
“Whilst we accept that non-catchment children are fare paying passengers, JP had been given contact details at the time of arranging the transport. Their transport has been pre-arranged and is therefore in an entirely different category.”
A council spokeswoman said: “In this instance the school and the council were unfortunately unaware of the transport arrangements for the two children, as these arrangements were made independently by the parents.
“We are discussing this with them to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place should a similar situation arise again.”
Photo by Angus Pictures