West Wight families left stranded, after school bus seats were lost in Isle of Wight Council cost-cutting measures, are adding their voices to calls to make sure children can get to school in September.

As the County Press reported last week, scores of parents have found themselves without transport after the local authority changed its contract for school buses.

Spare seats, previously paid for by families living outside the area of their closest school, were slashed in a shake-up of routes.

Parents have called the move ‘appalling’ and ‘disgusting’ and said they felt ‘let down’.

They have told the County Press the changes will force them into their cars at rush hour and have left their children upset and worried about starting the new school term. 

Read more: Privilege seats? Or Isle of Wight parents thrown under school bus?

Now, nearly fifty West Wight families are urging contractor Southern Vectis to ensure that a promised extra bus service is in place ready for the start of term, in 3 weeks’ time.

Scroll down for a recent comment from Southern Vectis...

Children living in Freshwater, Totland, Colwell, Yarmouth, Shalfleet and surrounding areas rely on a designated school bus to get to class, due to a lack of commercial buses and no access to a local secondary school.

Claire Kefford's son Noah is about to start Year 8. 

She said: “Every single child around here has to travel on the roads to get to school, and the school buses are a lifeline. But there are no public buses from Freshwater to Cowes for us to choose to take.

"My son now faces 4 buses and a ten-hour day just to get to school, which is really going to badly impact his ability to study.”

Sam Mitchell and her daughter Bess, in Year 11, said: “Families in the West Wight cannot be left behind.

"The school buses are a vital service for our local community, especially as our children return to school safely for the first time since March. Working parents need the school bus to Cowes to support our return to work, and Islanders want to see cars being taken off the road at rush hour to ease traffic congestion.

"Please, Southern Vectis, support the people of the West Wight and ensure that a bus will be available for all our children to get to school on time.”

The Isle of Wight Council's policy is to encourage parents to send children to their nearest school, however catchment areas do not exist and the rules have changed since some children started secondary school.

What has Southern Vectis said?

Responding to the County Press's bus cuts story earlier this month, Southern Vectis general manager, Richard Tyldsley said: “Unfortunately, many students who travelled last year will not be accommodated on the new contracted services, but we are planning to run additional buses along some of our key commercial routes - linking to schools. 

“We are also looking at providing our own dedicated school buses. The impact of Covid-19 has inevitably complicated matters as we look to ensure everyone who wishes to, can travel safely on our buses.”  

“We will publish full details of these services shortly, but I advise parents and guardians to plan journeys now - based on the existing bus network.”

He continued: “Southern Vectis offers a variety of great value tickets for those students who are displaced - and they are available directly from us, rather than from the local authority.

“We are pleased to have been awarded all the work available in the school buses contracts. The feedback we have received acknowledges our quality of service and reliability as a stable, award-winning and well-established operator. 

“Our team is highly experienced in providing excellent services to schools across the Isle of Wight, and this is just reward for their efforts.” 

Support group

A Facebook group for families who used the now scrapped 304 route has been created HERE.