ANXIOUS mothers are demanding Gloucestershire County Council ensure their children are seated on the bus to school.

Mother-of-three Sharon Davies, 36, was shocked to discover her son Jordan, 14, is regularly forced to stand on the route 3 bus from their Bowbridge home to Thomas Keble School.

The bus is a public service operated by Ebley Coaches.

But Jordan is one of nine pupils who get a free bus pass from the county council to use it.

Ms Davies and several other mothers are particularly concerned because the route includes Toadsmoor Hill.

"The speed the buses go down that hill has always been a concern of mine," said Ms Davies.

"I thought there would be a law against this happening as there is on coaches.

"I wouldn't take someone else's child in my car without putting a seatbelt on them and I can't believe school buses are running with several children standing."

Back in June, the SNJ reported how parents were calling for designated school buses to be fitted with seatbelts because of safety concerns.

A spokesman for GCC said the bus company was not doing anything wrong.

"The bus company has to comply with legal requirements which in this case are the same as for any service bus," he said.

"It is not required to have seatbelts fitted and if there aren't enough seats available children may have to stand.

"Parents are welcome to organise their own vehicles to transport children to and from school with a seatbelt for each child as has been done to other schools in Stroud area."

Keith Lemon, operations manager at Ebley Coaches, said the situation would be monitored.

But he stressed that other passengers were entitled to a seat and that the priority for drivers was to concentrate on the road.

"Drivers need 100 percent concentration," he said.

"They need to be looking at the road all the time, not looking to see if the nine pupils who have been paid for by the county council are sitting down."