Angry parents have hit out at the council after school bus contracts were reportedly cancelled from the new school term in September – leaving dozens of pupils no way to get to school.

More than 120 people so far have signed a petition calling for the cancellation to be reversed after parents were told by a number of bus companies to say their contracts for school services had been terminated last Friday.

But parents claim they were not told about the cancellation, with many now worried their children will not be able to get to school.

Pauline Pickles, from Prestwood, whose husband Rob set up the petition, said: “The council haven’t even contacted parents.

“There are going to be lots of school routes that aren’t going to be running.

“Many parents don’t know how they going to get their kids to school, it’s terrible.

“Working parents rely on these bus services, it’s going to impact a lot of people.”

She added: “We rang up the bus providers and they said they’d been told on Friday last week. It’s going to impact bus companies too.

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“There will be lots more cars and taxis with nowhere to park near schools.

“My children will have to walk quite a distance, there isn’t a bus stop anywhere near where we live.

“It’s just not viable. We pay £700 per child per year for these bus services and to not even be told is awful.”

On the petition, Mr Pickles wrote: “We believe the buses are good for the children. They have independence, some time to prepare before/decompress after school, and is better environmentally to have one bus rather than more cars driving to schools across Bucks each day.”

Another parent commented: “With both parents working it would be impossible for us to drop off/pick up our child. This bus has been running successfully for years and is vital to the village community.

“To cancel this service makes no sense at all.”

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And a third said: “I have two children that use the bus. Please don’t reduce this service. It would have a big impact on my daily life.”

Another wrote: “This will increase the amount of parents needing to drive kids to school, impacting the effect on the environment and increase the risks of accidents – and there will be more traffic around school.”

Buckinghamshire Council was approached by the BFP for comment and has said it is looking into the matter. We will publish the council’s response when we receive it.

The petition can be found at www.change.org/p/bucks-council-reverse-the-cancellation-of-bucks-school-buses.