IRATE parents are calling for the school bus providers not to ignore their calls for help.

Crossways mum Fiona Wisher said her son Ryan had been left at the roadside and at Thomas Hardye School by the bus company’s failures to turn up.

The 51-year-old said: “It’s been horrendous.

“I’m not interested in the money, it’s our children’s safety that concerns me.

“As a working mum I leave the house at 8am, knowing my son will be catching the bus at five past.

“You think they’re on the bus going straight to school and everything is safe but Ryan’s waited at the bus stop on his own until 9am.

“He had to go home because there was no bus. He phoned up the council to find out what was happening, they said they’d get back to him and never did.

“Then he’s been at school waiting for the bus, it never turned up so he caught the train.

“I was at work and I was worried silly.”

Mrs Wisher, who works for Magna Careline, added: “It’s a disaster waiting to happen, it really is.

“It’s a dangerous place out there and this is putting our children’s lives at risk.

“I wish the council would get back in touch with us and be more open.”

Tessa Warren, from Owermoigne, said her 16-year-old son Max lost his place on the school bus as a result of Dorset County Council’s spending cuts.

Since the start of term Max has had to catch the 7.25am public transport bus to reach Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester and often has to wait until the 5.15pm bus to get back.

She said: “I can’t get to speak to anyone at Dorset County Council school transport division.

“I left a message about a week ago and they said the switchboard was jammed.

“I was told I would get a call back and of course, I haven’t. I know other people in the same situation.”

She added: “My son doesn’t get a place on the bus, it was concessionary because he is 16.

“But he’s been told there are places on the bus yet those places aren’t being handed out.

“The most frustrating thing is no one will speak to me, this has been going on since the start of term.

“Our children are the ones being penalised.”

Compensation levels

TravelWatch SouthWest considers that the minimum offer of compensation from Dorset County Council and from Damory Coaches should be as follows: Dorset County Council imposed a sixty per cent increase from September 1 2011 in the annual cost of concessionary bus passes for non-entitled children from £250 to £400 – in view of the totally unacceptable service delivery, this increase in the annual charge should be deferred until January 1 2012, with all purchasers of these concessionary bus passes for the 2011/12 academic year receiving an immediate refund of £50.

Go-Ahead Group should charge no fares whatsoever for young people aged eighteen or less on any buses operated by Damory and Wilts and Dorset for any journeys to and from bus stops in the administrative county of Dorset on the following dates:- Saturday October 22 2011 to Sunday October 30 2011 inclusive Saturday December 17 2011 to Monday January 2 2012 inclusive To find out more about the watchdog visit travelwatchsouthwest.org/ or call 07825 542123.

Probe into problems

DORSET County Council’s audit and scrutiny committee has launched an investigation into the school transport problems. The committee is expected to consider the report at its meeting on November 17.

However, there is no plan for a blanket compensation scheme.

Miles Butler, Dorset County Council director for environment, said: “All formal complaints and claims made will be fully considered and responded to using the council's well established processes.”

He added: “The county council takes this service failure very seriously.

“It has taken urgent action with its contractor Damory to quickly address the concerns raised by parents, students and teachers about problems experienced with some school transport services. Very few operational problems still remain.

“An independent internal investigation of all the issues raised is being undertaken and the resulting report will be examined by the independent Audit and Scrutiny Committee.

Committee chairman Trevor Jones said: “Everybody is obviously greatly troubled by the poor performance over recent times.

“There have been a lot of difficulties, causing a lot of inconvenience for parents and pupils.

“We have now stated what is known as a ‘call to account’ in which the audit and scrutiny committee will investigate what has gone wrong, what can be done to prevent it ever happening again and what could be done to make amends for those who have been inconvenienced.

“The investigation has started immediately and will conclude no later than the middle of November.

“In the mean time, every effort is being made and I understand that every day improvements can be evidenced to put matters right on the ground.”

He added: “The county council has been deluged with complaints.

“Clearly the situation has been distressing for a lot of people, which is why we’re now looking into matters in depth and that is bound to take a while.”

Parents who want to complain to the county council can go online to dorsetforyou.com/complaints/county or call 01305 221061.