A mother says she is disgusted by the decision to ban her disabled and special needs son from his school bus due to poor behaviour.

Charlotte Bye, 28, said she received an email about her youngest son, George, aged seven, and his bad behaviour from Kent County Council (KCC).

The mum of two from Stanhope said George apologised to the AMB Travel bus driver but was not able to catch the bus to the Wyvern School in Great Chart.

Ms Bye said: “KCC are refusing transport because he was badly behaved on the bus, but he has chronic lung disease and special needs after being born premature at 27 weeks.

"I made him apologise to the bus driver, and asked if he would be allowed back on... but they refused to pick him up" - Ms Bye

“We need the bus to take him to school as he gets out of breath very quickly. I worry what will happen when it gets cold. I also have to walk with my older son, Tommy, to another school.

“As a single parent, this makes things really difficult. I’m walking them both at the moment, but the clocks go back soon and we could be walking home in the dark.”

She said she accepted George had been misbehaving on the bus, by kicking, spitting and threatening to open an emergency door.

She added: “I made him apologise to the bus driver, and asked if he would be allowed back on.

"Then on Friday morning the bus didn’t stop outside, so we went down Linsted Close opposite, but they refused to pick him up.

“Apparently KCC said there were three incidents of his bad behaviour, but they had only made me aware of one.

“They said there is nothing they will do until his behaviour improves. He has attention deficit disorder, but I don’t see how he can show he has improved his behaviour if they don’t let him back on.

“I just think that it is disgusting. There are other children who have got disabilities on the bus who have the same issues as George.”

But a KCC spokesman said: “George has not been banned permanently from the vehicle.

"However, there have been a number of recent incidents where George’s behaviour has represented a safety risk to himself, other children and the transport staff.

“Safety of all of the children being transported is paramount. Therefore, in the interests of safety and in conjunction with the school, he has been removed from transport as an interim measure, until his behaviour settles.

“Where there are such concerns we would always look at the balance between expectations of a pupil’s behaviour in light of their individual needs and support for the pupil and their family in order to address any underlying difficulties.

“We anticipate George’s transport by bus will be resumed once it is safe and appropriate to do so.”

Ms Bye said the two days of walking to school this week have led to George feeling ill in his chest due to the colder weather, and yesterday (Wednesday) he was unable to attend school.