PARENTS say they have been left in limbo after bus drivers told their children their dedicated school service was being scrapped.

The 602 Arriva bus which ran from Colchester town centre to Highwoods and was used by up to 50 youngsters everyday attending the Gilberd School on Brinkley Lane.

But in the days leading up to the end of term, bus drivers informed students they would not be able to use the service when they came back from the Easter holidays.

It is now set to be incorporated into the commercial number 2 route which runs along similar roads and will now serve the Gilberd School.

The move is part of a review launched by Essex County Council last year, which will see a host of bus services in Colchester facing changes from April 10 as a number of contracts are set to expire.

Alison Wealls, whose 14-year-old daughter Kira gets the bus from close to their home in Hazelton Drive, said she had received no official confirmation about any changes to the service.

She said: “I didn’t know anything about it but two or three of the children whose parents I have spoken to have said they had heard.

“I tried to call the school and asked them to send out an official letter or an email but nobody has heard anything from them.

“There is going to be a lot of people who do not know what is going on.

“I head the information second hand and was shocked – I don’t know what I am going to do.

“The school will expect to be there on time and in the confusion I can see some of them being late to their lessons.

“We will have to wait and see how crowded the buses are going to get. It is £10 per week to use the bus and it might be she has to stand up all the way.

“There are a lot of upset mums.”

A spokesman for Arriva, the company which runs the bus service, confirmed youngsters will still be able to get to school on a bus, even if the timetable and number is different to before the Easter holidays.

He said: “There will still be a bus service for them to use but the times will be slightly altered.

“It will leave from the town centre just after 8am and from Highwoods in time for the students.

“It has been incorporated but they will still be able to get to school on a bus.”

Alterations will take place to 42 of the 50 services in and around Colchester which are run by the county council, which is expected to save £1.5million from the operation.