PUPILS attending Oswestry’s Marches School are being punished  because of the late arrival of the bus carrying them from Eastern Oswestry, say parents.


The Arriva service 405 which serves both Marches and younger pupils at Woodside Schools is picking up pupils in College Road at around 8.20am but then faces a ‘rush hour race’ to get to the Marches School for enrolment at 8.40am.
 

One parent who contacted the Advertizer following one particularly wet morning said it was unfair that pupils were getting detention through no fault of their own and the bus needed to collect pupils at least 10 minutes earlier than it currently does.


“They are picking up too late. They should be at school no later than 8.40 and yet they are arriving at around 8.55,” she said.
“Pupils are becoming really stressed out it,” she said.
 

However, a spokesperson for The Marches School said no parent had complained to them about the issue.


“The weather today (Monday) was significantly poor and we do understand that travel plans will have been affected for a small minority of students.
“We aim to always take a sensible approach to the implementation of our sanctions and work with parents and carers when they contact the school to ensure our robust policies are actioned consistent  and fairly,” they added.
 

A spokesperson for Arriva Midlands said they were operating the service in line with the contract it had with Shropshire Council.
 

Councillor Simon Jones, Cabinet member for transport, said: “We are speaking to Arriva about whether there is an issue with the punctuality of this service.  As well as this, an officer will be going out to directly monitor the service to check what time it arrives at each stop on the route.”