AN ANGRY mother has blasted a bus company after her schoolboy son was left stranded in the dark when a driver refused to allow boys on to his vehicle.

The 14-year-old pupil from Ralph Allen School, Bath, was left at the S1 bus stop outside the school after he was told that pupils could not get on the bus following an incident when a driver was intimidated by young people the previous day.

The mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "I thought it was appalling, I was at work and there was nothing I could do.

"He was not allowed on the bus because he was a boy the driver said 'no boys allowed'.

"I was upset because I couldn't get to him, I just had to tell him make your own way home."

Bath Bus Company's commercial manager Keith Tazewell said Ralph Allen pupils were banned because a driver was threatened by an unknown teenager.

He said: "We made the decision not to carry Ralph Allen children for the final three days of that service, because it had been a problem for the driver."

Mr Tazewell said that because Ralph Allen children were majority users of the S1, they had decided to ban them.

He said: "I could not confirm if those involved in the incident were Ralph Allen pupils, but we know that that particular journey is used by Ralph Allen school children."

"There was an isolated one-off case, the driver was intimidated and quite upset."

Mr Tazewell said the service was being ended because it was not commercially viable and not because of the behaviour of school children.

He said: "The service was due to end the weekend of the 12th anyway. We could have let it die out, but decided to support our driver."

"The lack of passenger support for our service meant we had to cancel it."

Senior Ralph Allen teacher Steve Rose, who is responsible for transport at the school, said pupils from the school were not involved in the incident on November 7.

He said: "We were informed it was not one of our pupils."

Mr Tazewell defended the decision, saying he needed to protect his staff and the passengers who used the S1.

He said: "The driver was very upset and in this business you've got two loyalties, one to your staff and the other to the passengers."

The school had been informed of the bus company's decision, according to Mr Tazewell, and he said that other buses served the school.

He said: "We told the school of our action and there were other bus services in the area."

Bath and North East Somerset Council's transport department is tackling the transport problems now facing the 25 Ralph Allen pupils who used the S1 service.

Transport department spokesman Robin Spalding said: "I have been discussing the need for transport with Ralph Allen School and have approached Badgerline, to see if they can help."

"The 20C service is an alternative, and we are asking Badgerline if they can introduce deviations on some of their runs."

"Although it is a problem it is not as severe as it could be."

Mr Spalding said the bus company shared a council policy of not allowing difficult children on B&NES- supported buses.

He said: "We have the power to request that particular pupils are not allowed on our buses."