DOZENS of youngsters were left stranded during the first week of school because the buses were full.

Pupils attending St Peter's Secondary School in Bournemouth had to find an alternative way to get to and from school when already full buses drove past them.

The school in St Catherine's Road, Southbourne, has a number of dedicated school routes run by Yellow Buses which transports students to and from the school to their homes.

However dozens of students were left stranded at bus stops on route to the school while full buses drove past.

There have also been issues with students trying to get home at the end of the day.

Parent Katrina Baldwin said her two daughters couldn't get on a bus home to Moordown after their first day of school.

"Luckily my girls know how to make their way home by themselves on public transport," she added.

"But I pay £1,000 a year for bus passes and for that amount of money they should be able to get on a school bus that takes them home."

According to head teacher David Todd it is always difficult getting the right number of buses at the beginning of the academic year.

"As the only catholic school in the area we get students from far and wide," he said.

"We always give Yellow Buses our current student postcodes months in advance of the start of term so they are able to work out how many buses they need for each route.

"However the issue is that we don't know where our new Year 7s and Year 12s live and where they will be travelling from.

"For this reason there is always a bit of an issue with buses at the beginning of the year while we work out exactly what is needed and where. But this year has been particularly difficult."

According to Mr Todd a meeting was held with Yellow Buses immediately to tackle the issues.

"It has been getting considerably better but there are still some students who are struggling to get into school on time because of bus issues."

Jeff Clayton, head of network development at Yellow Buses, said: “We are aware that a number of students have been unable to use this popular, direct service to school in the second week of term because it became full.

"We have arranged for additional journeys to cover the section of route that was affected. We will continue to monitor loadings and are preparing a minor variation to the schedule for the longer term.

"I take this opportunity to thank customers for their patience, and to point out that our network of frequent services to and from Bournemouth, Iford and Southbourne is also available.”