PARENTS in Mauchline had to drive their kids to school after a mix-up with their bus passes.

Pupils at Auchinleck Academy living to the north of the A76 had been given bus passes for the Loudoun Street Carpark bus instead of the bus at Mauchline Primary and vice versa.

One grandmother, who didn’t want to be named, spoke to the Chronicle about “the fiasco” that has ensued.

She said: “Several children, including my grandchildren, have not received a bus pass at all which means, according to Mr Robertson from the school, that they are not allowed on the bus.

“Last week their parents had to take them to school. The school are blaming SPT and SPT are blaming the school.”

The service is provided by Liddell of Auchinleck who confirmed the mix-up was at SPT’s end.

James Liddell said: “We checked the passes last Monday and found that 17 didn’t have the right pass and should have been on a different bus. Basically, there has been a mistake on the pupil list.

“There was plenty of capacity last year that meant no-one noticed the mix up but there is one bus less now. To the best of my knowledge, we didn’t leave anyone stranded in Mauchline and everyone got to school although some parents may have driven their children in.

“Hopefully it has been sorted out now, but it may take another week if any pupils have been off school.”

SPT, who award the contracts for the school buses, disputed the number of pupils affected claiming that only five were allocated the wrong passes.

An initial investigation found three pupils, two who did not supply a change of address and one who hadn’t applied for school transport, with the wrong or no pass.

After they were contacted by the Chronicle, SPT found a further two pupils affected but could find no record of the other 12.

A spokeswoman for SPT said: “SPT has been made aware of concerns relating to passes issued in error, however, only three were found to be incorrect based on home address from a total of 153 – no child was refused school transport and sufficient space was available on the bus. We are now taking this matter up with the operator and school to ensure that information passed to SPT is corrected.”

A spokesperson for East Ayrshire Council said: “We’re pleased this minor difficulty has been resolved quickly and we’d remind parents that any change of address, or pupil details need to be made known to the school, to help prevent similar mix-ups. Bus passes are managed by SPT and application forms are available through the respective school and on the council’s website.”