CHILDREN in Derry Hill and surrounding villages may be left without transport to school if they do not buy a £100 bus pass to guarantee them a seat.

Parents are furious about the situation, which is affecting pupils who go to Sheldon and Hardenhuish Schools in Chippenham despite living outside the catchment areas.

But Wiltshire County Council, responsible for school bus services, says it has no obligation to provide coaches for those children not entitled to free transport.

Senior assistant of the council's passenger transport department Nigel Bruce-Robertson said: "Especially during these cold winter months, there are more children travelling than we are able to provide seats for.

"We do not have to provide transport for any of these children, who are not entitled to free transport because they are attending a school chosen by their parents rather than one in their catchment area."

Mr Bruce-Robertson said the 57-seater bus run by Hatts Coaches was only run in the first instance to provide transport for just 17 children who were entitled to free transport for a variety of reasons.

"We could just run a mini bus for them but we asked the operator to put on a larger bus to help bring out the other children from these areas," he said.

There is now such a demand for the bus that parents have been asked to pay more than a £100 per term for a termly bus pass to guarantee them a seat on the bus every day.

Mum Kay Payne, of Lansdowne Crescent, Derry Hill said: "Everybody is up in arms."

Mr Bruce-Robertson said there were not enough children travelling to make the running of a second bus viable and arrangements had been made between Hatts Coaches and some parents to pay for the pass in installments.

Sue Borley of Lansdowne Crescent has a 12-year-old son Simon at the school and 10-year-old Robert is due to start next year.

She said she is very unhappy about the situation and will be writing to MP James Gray. "I don't know why they have suddenly changed it.

"Although we are out of the catchment area for Sheldon and Hardenhuish we have a right to choose to send our children there."

Mrs Borley said there was no public transport that went further than the town centre to the schools.

"It's not even as if there is a viable alternative and the Government are saying they don't want us to use our cars," she said.

"The problem is not going to go away because more children are going to start going to the school and I havce the added dilemma of another child starting next year."