Penny-pinching council lambasted by mum over lack of bus pass for little Jeff, 5
Pint-sized Jeff Meechan was only five but already he’d become a victim of red-tape.
The youngster was the only child in his street who had to pay a fare among a bus-load of about 40 children travelling each day to St Catherine’s and Gallowhill Primary Schools in Paisley, we reported in September 1983.
All his friends and classmates had special travel passes but the education authority refused to give Jeff one.
The reason, claimed his angry mum Mrs Marie Meechan, is that the family lived at 32 Clydesdale Avenue, Sandyford.
“If we stayed at 40 Clydesdale Avenue, or in any house above that number, my son would qualify for a free bus pass.
“Now he holds the unique position of being the only fare- paying child on that bus. “It’s pathetic.” Every day little Jeff paid a 20p return fare to the driver of the bus to take him to St Catherine’s School in Branbloch Crescent, which was about a mile from his home.
His mum added: “I think it’s a bit embarrassing for Jeff having to pay and I’m sure that’s the feeling of the bus driver too.
“The situation became more annoying when I found there was always at least 12 empty seats on the bus.”
A spokesman for the education authority said the Meechan family lived within a mile of the school.
“We have to make a cut-off point somewhere and this is at 40 Clydesdale Avenue.
“It is only those pupils who live beyond a mile who get the bus pass.”