THE FURIOUS headteacher of the county’s most successful school has said he has ‘absolutely no faith’ in the town’s Diamond Bus provider and is contemplating arranging a new bus service for his school.
The comments come after pupils at St Augustine’s Catholic High School were left stranded on the roadside on Tuesday (January 19) after the tyre of the Diamond bus transporting them home blew out just minutes into the journey.
Despite a replacement service being arranged, some students opted to walk – some not reaching home until 5.30pm.
It’s the latest in catalogue of problems that have left bus users fuming.
Headteacher Tony Quinn said: “Some of them are only in Year 9 and aren’t used to going out alone plus some of our vulnerable children get the school bus – it’s a safeguarding issue.”
Mr Quinn added his staff are now transporting Year 11 students who are sitting exams this week and next after not losing faith in Diamond to do the job.
Staff fear if pupils catch a Diamond bus they could arrive late and face exam disqualification.
Mr Quinn urges parents to write to Diamond Bus, Redditch MP Karen Lumley and Worcestershire County Council with their complaints.
A spokesperson for Diamond confirmed the S75 experienced a blown tyre and said the driver acted in keeping with company procedure by pulling over, assessing the damage and moving to a safer location.
He added a replacement vehicle was deployed immediately.
Pupils at Ridgeway Middle School suffered a similar plight on Wednesday (January 20) morning when the school’s S70 service failed to collect them after the 7.37am service broke down and replacement missed out a section of the route.
It meant some children as young as nine waiting in temperatures of minus five for around an hour to get to school.
The incident led to teachers driving the school minibus to Crabbs Cross to collect the children.
A spokesperson for Diamond said: “We can confirm that due to the freezing temperatures that morning, S70 did suffer a non-safety related mechanical issue on-route.
“Immediate action was taken to deploy both the S77 and S69 services to cover the main pick up points and the school was informed.”
