A OUTRAGED dad is set to take over a school bus service after finding out his daughter's bus will be pulled later this year.

David Hale, dad to 12-year-old Poppy of St Peter's School in Southbourne, learned that the 781 service - which operates from their home in Ferndown - wouldn't be running come September because of cuts from Dorset County Council.

He learned the truth only after he made a complaint about his daughter being charged 90p more for her daily journey than non school-going passengers because the operator Morebus had instructed drivers not to accept the lower fare.

Now he is in talks with St Peter's School and Dorset County Council about setting up a parent-funded private school service for those who will be affected by the loss of the school services currently offered by the 781 and the 769 from Corfe Mullen.

"Morebus are walking away from it," Mr Hale said. "Had I not raised the questions of the fares how would I have known that they were only running the route until September? At what point were they going to tell parents they were pulling the service?

"They should be operating as a responsible company but clearly they have different priorities.

"It's just brutal - a total stitch-up.

"It raises the issue as to what parents will do to get their children to St Peter's.

"If I don't do anything my daughter won't have any way of getting to school and this isn't just for her - this is for all those children. This is the only option."

Mr Hale said he will ensure a school service is in operation come the next academic year.

He said: "Parents need to be very mindful about what impact this is going to have on school travel. There is quiet panic at the school gates at the moment because people don't know how they're going to get their children to school. People are even talking about selling their homes in Ferndown and moving to Southbourne.

"It is very clear that austerity from central government is now impacting on middle-income families."

Morebus operations director Ed Wills said: "I can confirm that our contracts for these school routes run until the end of the summer term. We run the routes under contract to Dorset County Council, and it is for the county council to decide whether it wishes to continue funding these services.

"If it does, and we feel the funding available is enough to continue operating the routes, we will look to reapply for the contracts through the tender process."

Patrick Myers, assistant director for design and development of Dorset County Council children’s services, said: “The decision not to fund denominational school transport was made in 2012. At the time we agreed to honour the transport of the existing pupils. The service was converted to a public bus in 2014.

“There are currently five pupils using the bus, which will reduce to one pupil on the 781 route next year. There are six pupils in total receiving county council support to travel to St Peter’s next year.

“The current contract for the 781 and 769 services, which costs the county council £65,000 a year, ends in July. We are in the process of informing all schools of changes to our funding for the next school year.

“We are working with the school to advise them on finding school-led solutions, looking at all modes of travel.”