Driver leaves terrified children at wrong stop

Boy left screaming for mother as sister tried to flag down cars

Two terrified children were reported missing when they were dropped from their school bus at the wrong stop.

Fife Council pledged lessons would be learned from the ‘worrying’ incident which saw the young siblings left almost two miles from where their grandparents were waiting.

Police launched a search for Olivia Buist, 7, and her five-year-old brother Danny when the bus driver admitted he did not know where they were.

Their furious mother Annie has demanded to know why the bus did not stop and that action has been taken to prevent a reoccurrence.

She said: “Nothing has happened to ensure the children’s safety and I am absolutely appalled.”

Council education officer Rona Maclean-Ross said: “This was a worrying incident and we want to ensure that both the council and the bus company learn from this.”

Education bosses have insisted lessons will be learned after two young children were dropped by their school bus almost two miles from their usual stop.

Olivia and Danny Buist were reported missing after their bus drove past the stop in Cardenden where their grandparents were waiting to collect them from school.

The terrified siblings got off in Dundonald and were so distressed that Danny, five, was screaming for his mother and Olivia, seven, has refused to talk about their ordeal since.

Their mother Annie Buist said she did not feel St Ninian’s Primary School had done enough to prevent a recurrence and Stagecoach East Scotland was yet to explain why the driver failed to stop when the bell was rung.

And she claimed the stop was missed again earlier this week, leaving another child’s parents to chase the bus.

Olivia and Danny’s grandparents were waiting for them at the Corrie Centre, in Cardenden, when the bus drove straight past on January 17.

When the school contacted the driver he did not know where the children were.

Annie said: “My son was screaming and my daughter was trying to wave down cars to help them.

“She tried to coax him to walk but it was dark and snowing.

“A seven-year-old boy who was with them persuaded them to go to his grandparents’ house and they had to cross a busy road to get there.”

Annie said she was plunged into a state of sheer panic when the school called her at her work in Edinburgh to say her children were missing.

She said: “My children are absolutely distressed, they didn’t want to go back to school. My son has been having nightmares and my daughter doesn’t want to talk about it as she can’t get my son’s screaming out of her head.”

She said she was unaware of the school’s protocol that children should stay on the bus if they miss their stop.

Council education officer Rona Maclean-Ross said: “This was a worrying incident and we want to ensure that both the council and the bus company learn from this.

“As a result, an amended bus driver checklist for all pupils boarding the school bus is now being filled out by the school to confirm children’s drop-off points for the driver in an additional attempt to ensure they do not miss any stops on their route.

“Stagecoach has also confirmed that, as an interim measure, their drivers will stop at every bus stop on this particular route until we are satisfied the checklist is shown to work effectively..”

David Frenz, Stagecoach East Scotland operations director, said: “We were very concerned when this was brought to our attention.

“We have therefore worked with the council to introduce a new process which will help outline to our driver the pupils who are due to alight at each stop.

“We have also tried to contact these particular pupils’ family to reassure them that we have taken steps to prevent this situation arising again.”

Olivia and Danny Buist were supposed to have been collected by their grandparents in Cardenden but ended up at Dundonald after their bus failed to stop at its usual place.