SARAH Nobbs is 11 years old but Swindon Council has said it expects her to walk more than five miles to and from school every day.

She is a victim of the council's decision to change the catchment area of Ridgeway School, where she is due to start in September.

The council has said she is not allowed to catch the school bus and is faced with walking five miles to Wroughton Secondary or catching two buses that would take at least an hour and a half.

Sarah lives in Castlefield Close, Eastleaze, and has just left Westlea Primary School. If she lived just 70 yards closer to Westlea on the other side of Whitehill Way she would be entitled to the free transport.

The council changed its policy for free transport after Sarah had been accepted to Ridgeway, and in its prospectus it still states that young-sters at Westlea Primary are entitled to free transport to the school.

Her father Phil, 48, a Master Engineer based at RAF Brize Norton was widowed in November last year, and says that he will now be forced to send Sarah to Greendown School because he works full-time and cannot transport her to school.

He said: "I was willing to pay for a bus pass even though it would cost me hundreds of pounds a year but the council said no.

"I cannot believe it mapped out this ridiculous route. Can you imagine an 11-year-girl walking five miles to school on a freezing January day in the dark?

"Getting the service bus would be just as bad because she would have to leave the house at 7am and catch a bus to town before changing to a bus to Wroughton and then walking 20 minutes to the school.

"At the appeal I was told that they had seen people in better and worse situations than mine, but I lost my wife eight months ago and am trying to bring up three children so I don't see how much worse it can get."

Sarah said: "Most of my friends are going to Ridgeway so I wanted to be there with them.

"I looked around Ridgeway and really liked it.

"I am upset about not being able to go there. My mum really liked the school and agreed that I should go there."

Sarah is not the only person affected by the changing catchment areas as Swindon Council tries to reduce the high bill for school transport.

Parent of pupils at Bradon Forest School in Purton are furious because the council is now refusing to provide transport to school.

Some of the children affected are studying for their GCSEs and parents claim their education would suffer if they were forced to move schools.

Education director John Simpson could offer no comfort to Sarah or her father.

Mr Simpson, who works for Tribal, the firm sent to run education in Swindon when Ofsted ruled the council was unfit to do the task itself, said the problem arose because of Mr Nobbs' choice of school.

Council policy was that there was no obligation to provide bus services under such circumstances, he explained.

He added: "It is the council that sets the policies, and our job to implement them.

"Our job is to make sure the policies are implemented fairly and to give parents the right to an appeal if they think the policies have been implemented unfairly."