THURROCK Council is proposing a radical overhaul of school transport policy in an attempt to cut costs, alleges one school governor.

The council have sent out a consultation paper to all head teachers and school governors in the borough outlining a proposal to stop providing concessionary transport to children who live within a two mile catchment of their school and to scrap the use of escorts on school buses.

If the proposals prove successful, it would mean that the council will merely be providing its statutory commitments.

Richard Price, governor of the Chafford Hundred Campus, said: "It appears that Thurrock Council wish to save money at the expense of the safety of the children of Thurrock."

Currently, concessionary arrangements provide spare seats on contracted vehicles for parents who can't get their children to school any other way. Escorts operate on vehicles with eight seats or more, which carry Primary children, or pupils whose behaviour dictate their necessity.

Mr Price said: "If they take away the escort can you imagine what the driver will be in for with all the little horrors that get on the buses?

"The previous Labour administration put these escorts in place for the safety of the driver and the children. If there is someone on the bus supervising they can stop the misbehaving on the bus.

"This is all a money saving exercise, the area assemblies have already gone, what will go next, the free transport for pensioners?"

A spokesperson for Thurrock Council said: "It is a consultation so obviously no conclusions can be drawn at this moment.

"The main purpose is to revert to statutory provision.

"Under law children up to the age of eight must be provided with transport if they live two miles or more from their school. At present we offer transport for four to 11-year-olds who live 1.5 miles or more from the school.

"The consultation is not about removing escorts, it's actually about providing more, or looking at using other security measures such as security cameras."