A bus company which cancelled a service which catered for a number of students in Ipswich has said it "fell short" with communications with schools.
On Sunday, August 31, just a few days before the new school term started, First Bus made a number of changes to bus routes around the county.
One of these was the cancellation of the 978 service from Felixstowe which stops at both St Alban's Catholic High School and Northgate High School, both in Ipswich.
This raised eyebrows from parents, councillors and the schools themselves, due to the lack of communication from First Bus.
Simon Corless, headteacher at St Alban's Catholic High School, said: "Our students and their parents and carers are at the forefront of all our decision making.
"We are therefore extremely disappointed at the action of First Group in cutting this vital link for the students who attend our school from all points east to Felixstowe.
"The bus is always full and often oversubscribed on homeward journeys and I cannot understand the reasoning behind the change.
"I have had reports of difficulties for parents and students in Felixstowe that have affected whole families as they grapple with the consequences of the very late notice of withdrawal of the service.
"I do hope that First will re-examine their decision and will be working with myself and the leadership team of our school to once again put students and their parents/carers first.
"This may mean that we need to seek an alternative operator to cater for at least 100 students to provide this much-needed and well-used service.
East Suffolk councillor for Felixstowe, Rosie Smithson, said: "A number of parents alerted me to the issue of the cancellation.
"I contacted both St Alban’s and Northgate and I am concerned that neither school was informed of the cancellation in advance.
"This meant that the schools were unable to ensure all parents and students affected were fully aware - parents learnt of the change through social media.
"Given the numbers of students involved this is a very poor level of service and communication from First Bus."
First Bus acknowledged this, with a spokesperson saying: "We have noted the concerns raised about changes to service 978. The route of our service 75 is nearly identical for the majority of pupils impacted by the changes.
"We’re asking students attending St Albans school to walk 300 metres or five minutes to the nearest available bus stops located on Heath Road and at the hospital.
"Currently, the part of the route which services Northgate School is significantly underutilised, and after analysing our data, the decision was made to stop the service.
"While we liaised with local transport authorities when we were planning the change, and promoted the revised services to customers via email, social media and our website, we recognise that we fell short with our communications with the schools. We’ll be learning from this and will ensure communication is improved."
Ms Smithson continued: "I am asking a question at the County’s Cabinet next week about when they were made aware of the changes – it’s possible, but difficult to believe First Bus didn’t inform them in advance.
"The decision to cancel the number 978 service has left children who live in Old Felixstowe with a long walk to catch the alternative bus, and those who attend Northgate with a 20-minute-plus walk to school from the nearest stop at Heath Road by the Hospital.
"This means some students will have a really difficult start to the school day – and that is if they can get a seat on the bus in the first place.
"Members of the public are also affected as parents are reporting that the alternative bus is standing room only on outbound journey by the time it gets to Walton.
"Parents have had to pick up children by car at the end of the day. Basically, a very badly planned change."
Northgate High School was approached for comment.
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