A bus company has praised two drivers after investigating a complaint that children on a school bus were dumped miles from home in the dark.

Keighley & District Travel operations manager Jeff Smith says: "I am entirely satisfied that the two drivers acted professionally, exhibiting the highest standards of concern for safety of their passengers."

The probe was launched after an angry mother claimed children were told to get off the special B60 Oxenhope to Parkside School (Cullingworth) service, which had become stranded because of icy roads.

Mrs Pamela Still's 11-year-old son, Craig, is in his first year at the new Cullingworth secondary school.

He boarded the bus at 7.45am at Shaw Lane, Oxenhope for his daily journey.

But Mrs Still claims the driver stopped at Marsh Lane, in Haworth, and told children to get off and make their own way home.

Craig had to walk about two miles home and made it home for 9.30am.

Mrs Still says: "It's just by luck I was still at home, as I was about to go out.

"A lot of children use that bus and some have special needs. Anything could've happened. Who knows how many children arrived home and found their mums not there?"

K&DT says the drivers of two buses stopped when they judged the sheet ice too dangerous and contacted Keighley Bus Station.

Council gritters were called out and schools warned pupils would be late. It was over an hour before the grit could be laid.

Mr Smith says: "Both drivers strongly advised all the school students to remain inside the buses. Some teenage passengers took matters into their own hands and left the buses on foot.

"The public must understand that bus drivers have no power to force passengers to remain on a bus and many made their own decision to leave and make their own way home or to school."

He adds: "Several 4x4 vehicles also arrived during the delay and collected other passengers from the stranded buses. It is not known how these vehicles were sommoned but it is assumed by student passengers using their own mobile phones."

Parkside's deputy head, Mike Smith, says that when he contacted K&DT they immediately resolved the matter. He adds: "We don't like children to be left unattended at any time, but it was a one-off incident which we are quite certain won't happen again.

"Many school buses were delayed that day because of black ice."

Mr Smith says all those affected eventually made it into school.

Opinion page 8