Council say sorry over school bus bungle

West Lothian Council have apologised after seven children were forced to walk half a mile on a busy road after a bus mix-up.

the st nicholas primary school kids, aged between six and 11, were due to be dropped near to their homes in Craigseaton, broxburn, on tuesday, august 23.

but after the driver missed the stop, the children were dropped on the a899 outside the Volunteer arms pub in uphall.

one dad, David Cook, said: “My kids get dropped quite close to the house at 3.30pm but at around 4.10pm they still hadn’t appeared.

“I was getting really worried so drove on to the main road (a899) where my six-year-old daughter came running up to me pouring her heart out hysterically saying that they had been dropped in uphall – half a mile away.

“I later found out she nearly got hit by a taxi crossing the road. I’m furious about this.”

a spokeswoman for West Lothian Council said: “a new bus operator was appointed from the start of term for this route.

“there was no change in the route or the contract. However the new operator was not aware of a local variation.

“When the issue came to the council’s attention, we took immediate action to ensure that the service would run as it did previously and to ensure that this does not occur in future.

“We would like to apologise for the distress which was caused.”