TEACHING staff from two Redditch schools are turning up the heat on Diamond Bus bosses following a meeting last month on the service they are offering pupils.
Buses transporting children to and from St Augustine’s Catholic High School and Tudor Grange Academy have been unreliable since September – when the 143 service was withdrawn without notification to St Augustine’s.
The day before the inital meeting, which took place on November 19, a bus due to take Tudor Grange students home burst into flames outside the Woodrow Drive site.
Speaking after that meeting Tony Quinn, principal at St Augustine’s, said: “It’s a total disregard for the safeguarding of the children. Buses have been overcrowded – leading to potential health and safety issues – and have posed an extreme risk by turning up late or not at all.
“Communication is abysmal, phone calls are not answered, emails are ignored and our frequent pleas are disregarded.
“Our staff, parents and students have lost all faith in the Diamond Bus Company due to its erratic level of service and reliability.”
Following that initial discussion, a further meeting was held with Diamond representatives last Thursday (December 11) with teaching staff demanding the deadline that Diamond has to improve its services moves forward.
A letter was been sent to County Councillor John Smith, cabinet member with responsiblity for highways, to request such time frames are brought in line with the beginning of the spring term.
David Squire, additional director at Diamond Buses said: “We have an action plan and are looking forward to working positively with both schools and the county council in partnership to deliver better services.
“We have a number of new vehicles which are due shortly and we believe will operate a better service than ever before.”
