Angry parents in Cross Roads and Haworth are fighting council plans to take away their children's free bus passes.

Youngsters in the two villages who attend Parkside School, in Cullingworth, have not been offered new passes.

Education chiefs at Bradford Council have told families that they no longer qualify for free transport as they live less than three miles from the school.

However, the council is still providing free passes for new children making the move up to the school in September.

Carole Richardson, from Lees Bank Road, Cross Roads, whose 13-year-old son Chris is a pupil at Parkside, is one of the parents taking the council to appeal.

She claims the route along Halifax Road, past Sugden End tip and turning left at the Flappit junction into Haworth Road, is not safe for children to walk.

Mrs Richardson said: "We were given free bus passes back in 2000 when it first became a secondary school because someone found out we had a dangerous route.

"We knew last year that the council was trying to take them off us so we had an idea this was in the pipeline.

"The council sent us a letter two weeks ago saying that Oakbank school is nearer so we were never entitled to free passes.

"Our argument is that Oakbank is irrelevant because our children don't go there, and it feels like because we have exercised our choice we are paying for that now.

"It will cost us £6 a week to send our children to school, which is a lot of money throughout the year."

Mrs Richardson said the council had not provided parents with the actual distances to Parkside and Oakbank.

Worth Valley Conservative councillor Kris Hopkins, pictured, said: "It's a long way and there are some busy roads between Cross Roads and Parkside, some of which are unlit, so I would imagine parents will have a good case if they go through the appeal process."

Free passes are provided to children who live three miles or more from their school.

If parents take it to appeal and the route is not deemed safe to walk then another route will be suggested. If that new route is more than three miles then free passes will be provided, but if it is less than three miles the passes will still not be issued. Decisions on bus passes are currently made by Bradford Council, with Education Bradford responsible for issuing the paperwork to parents.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: "We are currently assessing the status of those routes before making a final decision."

Parents in nearby Denholme are celebrating after they successfully fought to retain their children's free bus passes.

Families were told by Bradford Council that their children were no longer eligible for passes as the two-and-a-half-mile route to Parkside School was deemed safe to walk. But parents claimed that children would have to cross the busy A629 Main Road several times to reach the school as there wasn't a continuous footpath.

They said the high levels of lorries using the road would make it dangerous for their children, especially on dark winter mornings and evenings.

And their appeal has resulted in a U-turn from the council's education chiefs.

Parent Mandy Clark, from Longlands Avenue, walked the route with Conservative councillor Colin Powell, who is chairman of the council's education appeals committee, and Denholme town councillor Maxine Brotherton.

Mrs Clark, whose children Gemma, 15, and Liam, 14, attend the school, and Ryan, 11, who will be joining in September, said she hopes parents don't have to fight for the bus passes again.

She said: "We are glad that the council has relented, but we don't want to go through this again next year."

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: "We can confirm that the children concerned will be receiving free bus passes."