Alban Academy pupils face dark, isolated walks

Bedford Borough Council will cancel the free school bus from Roxton to Alban Academy in Great Barford after October half term.

Angie Foster, whose daughter will attend the middle school in September, said: “This is not in our children’s best interest.

“There is no street lighting and the roads aren’t treated. The children will be vulnerable.

“Even though it’s under the recommended guidelines they will still be expected to walk 25 miles a week. For a nine-year-old to walk that way is outrageous.”

Parents are also concerned about the speed that the vehicles travel at because there is no pedestrian barrier.

Alban Academy’s deputy head, Chris Chipperton, said: “It’s not going to be a pleasant walk, particularly in the winter when it’s dark. They are quite young children who will be walking for the best part of an hour through rural, isolated roads. There has to be concern for what could happen to them.”

A council spokesman said there had been an independent review of routes that had previously been marked as unsafe to walk. The reviewers decided the Roxton route should be reclassified as safe in accordance with conditions in the home to school transport policy – and consequently the school bus will be removed.

There is a Save Roxton School Bus group to join on Facebook and petitions can be signed at Great Barford and Roxton Post Offices and in Great Barford Surgery.

To read the full story see the Biggleswade Chronicle of Friday, July 22.