A school bus service for children travelling from Powys to Aberystwyth has been reduced, and the announcement was made about it the night before the start of the new term.

Derwenlas mum Heulwen Davies is furious.

Heulwen said at 5pm on Tuesday night (2 September), Lloyds Coaches issued a post on Facebook saying children from the Machynlleth area were no longer able to travel on the YP04 school bus to Aberystwyth to attend Penweddig secondary school. The post explains that due to an increase in student numbers within Ceredigion on Ceredigion contracted routes YP03 and YP04, changes have been made,

YP03 will operate from Talybont Ysgol to Ysgol Penglais only, the post adds, and YP04 will only operate from Tre Taliesin to Ysgol Penweddig.

“Students attending Ysgol Penglais between Machynlleth and Tre Taliesin should catch TrawsCymru Service T2 departing Machynlleth Wheeler's Fabrics at 0732 returning from CK Superstores at 1540,” the post adds.

Heulwen said the announcement makes no mention of provision for Penweddig pupils, and when parents of pupils from Penweddig asked about their children, they were told they could also use the T2 or make their own travel arrangements, but that would mean dropping Penweddig pupils in the town centre at 8.25am, leaving them to walk a mile to school.

“Hopefully, all being well, they could make it to registration after the one hour and 10 minutes on the bus and the mile walk,” said Heulwen, “but there’s no way they could get home on the T2, as they can’t make it to CK’s from Penweddig by 3.40pm, and they can’t make it from Penweddig to the bus stop in town by 3.35pm.

“Having looked at alternatives it means either waiting around town unsupervised until the 4.35pm bus or the 5.30pm train. These are children! Some as young as 11! It’s a safeguarding issue for them to left unsupervised on the street especially in the dark days of winter and in this awful weather, they will have already had to walk a mile from school to get there.”

Heulwen’s daughter Elsi is 13, and like the other 16 children from Machynlleth and Derwenlas who have been catching the YP04 school bus to Penweddig and Penglais, her parents pay for the service.

“This is more than fair as we know our children are out of the Ceredigion catchment area, we don’t expect any financial support to get our children to the school in Aberystwyth,” Heulwen said.

Elsi went to Ysgol Gymraeg and Penweddig like most of her friends.

“We knew a school bus service was available via Lloyds Coaches when she started high school, so for the past two years with myself now working from home, she’s used this great service on a daily basis and paid for it like all the other children outside the catchment area, “Heulwen added.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the Facebook post. I’m grateful that Lloyds shared it otherwise all our children would have been stranded on the roadside this morning.

“In our village of Derwenlas last night us parents were in and out of each others houses, and on messages and calls with other parents from the Machynlleth area trying to work out how to get our kids to school and back safely.

“I took them down to Machynlleth this morning by 7.15am to catch the T2 public bus, which leaves 30 mins earlier than the regular school bus. There were 14 children there and many distressed parents, it was a shock to the regular adults who use the service, and understandably they were concerned there wouldn’t be enough room. Fortunately there was enough room for everyone from Mach.

“The bus left six minutes late and was already half full just from that one stop. The Penweddig children only just made it to registration in time, not the best start to the first term, especially for those children starting Penweddig for the first time.”

“Tonight one of the mums from the village collected the children and walked them to the 4.35pm bus from town as she doesn’t drive. Tomorrow I’ll be leaving work at 2.30pm to collect them and bring them back, which means I have to work late to make up my hours. From Friday onwards…who knows?!

“I’m really angry and frustrated by this situation. Finding out at 5pm, 14 hours before the kids catch the bus and begin a new school year, that they can no longer use that YP04 school bus to get to school and back, is an utter joke!

“They haven’t considered the children’s safety or wellbeing here, especially Penweddig pupils who now have an hour long bus journey and a mile walk to get to school hopefully on time.

“Penweddig pupils can’t make it home on the public buses or trains without being forced to hang around town for an hour or two, some of these children are just 11 and some have additional needs, the safeguarding of our children and their wellbeing have not been considered at all, it’s shameful.

“The fact that children from the Welsh medium school are at a disadvantage due to the bus routes, is also shameful when we’re trying to promote Welsh medium education.

“The stress this has caused us all as families over the past 24 hours has been totally avoidable, we all work, we all live busy lives and now, through no fault of our own, and without any notice, we all have to change our working patterns and daily lives to juggle and share our school run duties.

“Yes our children our out of the catchment area, they always have been, nothing has changed, there’s been absolutely no issue with this, they were given a place at these schools in Ceredigion and welcomed with open arms, and we rightly pay for the transport to get them to the school, we have no issue with this at all.

“This morning, I’ve spent an hour on the phone to the council who said that it’s Lloyds Coaches fault and that they have made the decision to stop the provision, and that they’ve not changed the contract in any way and that Lloyds have known this for weeks.

“Lloyds coaches told me on a call that it’s the council’s fault for letting them know very last minute that they don’t have space for children from the Machynlleth area on the bus anymore. It’s an absolute disgrace that our children are being treated like this, this is not the way to begin a new term.”

Ceredigion County Council said: “Unfortunately, a significant amount of misinformation has been shared on social media.

“Ceredigion County Council can confirm that no changes have been made to its contracts for transport services for pupils who are eligible for transport to Ysgol Penweddig or Ysgol Penglais.”

The spokesperson said public provision in the Machynlleth area is not part of the contracts with Ceredigion County Council.

Lloyds Coaches has been asked to comment.