PARENTS have been left “appalled” after schoolchildren were left waiting for a bus on a busy road because the driver failed to arrive.

Mums and dads had to arrange transport for pupils going to Goytre Fawr Primary School in Penperlleni, near Pontypool, on Thursday morning after the driver reportedly forgot about the service.

Around 20 children waiting at three stops were affected by the mistake, leading to an apology being issued by Monmouthshire County Council, who runs the service.

Several pupils arrived late for school, with many not arriving until around 9.20am.

One of the pick-up locations in Little Mill was in Berthon Road, where residents have expressed concerns about speeding.

“I am appalled that school children can be left on a main road and forgotten,” said mum Jess Bowman, whose six-year-old daughter, Lowri Baldwin, had to be taken to school by another parent at the school.

“All of the children were waiting at the bus stops, one of which is on a very busy road where cars constantly speed. When monitoring was carried out before Christmas some cars were recorded travelling at over 70mph.

“Although there were parents present, when children are in a group they start playing and can get fed up and it could lead to a potentially dangerous situation.”

Parents were told that pupils affected would not receive a late mark. The county council said the error happened due to an “oversight” from the driver who was covering for the usual driver on sick leave.

Ms Bowman, 30, from Little Mill, said she was concerned that parents were not informed by the county council about the bus not arriving.

She said it took more than three hours and a half for the council to explain why the bus had not arrived.

Ms Bowman said the service is usually “excellent”, but is concerned that the council does not have a method of informing parents if the service is not running.

Huw Jones, operations and commercial manager of passenger transport at Monmouthshire County Council, apologised for the error.

He said: “We apologise profusely for the non-arrival of a bus scheduled to take pupils from Little Mill to Goytre Fawr Primary School on Thursday.

“This was due to an oversight on the part of the driver who was covering for the usual driver on sick leave. We have since taken steps to ensure that such a situation can be avoided in future.”