A mother is furious after her daughter was turfed off a school bus and left to find her own way home.

A Stagecoach driver refused to let Amber Fishlock, 13, on the bus from Woodchurch to Homewood School, Tenterden, because she did not have her bus pass.

She had a letter explaining that there was a delay in her pass arriving, but was not even given time to get it out of her bag.

Amber’s mother, Lisa Fishlock, of Fairfield Terrace, Hamstreet, said: “I am absolutely furious.

“Amber was left at the bus stop to find her own way home – anything could have happened to her.

“She could not contact me, so the first I knew was when I called Homewood to see if she had arrived as I was worried about the pass.

“They said Amber was not in school, so I drove to the bus stop and found her walking home really upset.”

Amber’s sister Elesha, 14, also goes to Homewood. Her bus pass for this term has also not arrived but she used her old pass and was allowed on the bus.

Amber had been using her old pass which she lost. Mrs Fishlock was advised by Homewood to write a letter for her, saying that the bus pass had been delayed, which she did.

Amber was allowed on the bus with the letter for two days before the incident.

“I think it is disgusting,” said Mrs Fishlock. “Amber was not even given time to get the letter out of her bag. She should have been allowed on the bus.”

Amber said: “I tried to explain to the driver that I had a letter in my bag saying that my bus pass was on its way, but he didn’t listen. He said ‘I don’t understand you’ and basically told me to get off the bus.”

Mrs Fishlock’s husband Terry has psoriatic arthritis, a condition that has resulted in severe joint inflammation, and he is disabled.

Elesha and Amber are registered carers, and although Mrs Fishlock applied for the bus passes before KCC’s July 17 deadline, they had to be verified by Kent Young Carers, which authorised free bus passes for the girls.

A KCC spokesman said that 23,000 passes had been processed, adding: “In order to make sure that pupils can travel if they fail to obtain their ready pass and overcome any initial teething difficulties, this year we arranged with bus operators across the county to accept any pupil for travel until Friday, September 11.

“We were made aware of some issues where operators were not permitting children to travel and these were taken up with operators.

“We received Mrs Fishlock’s applications on August 13 and these should be available to collect at school by the end of this week.”

A spokesman for Stagecoach said: “We’re very sorry that a pupil was inconvenienced.

“This year, like any other, we made special arrangements for pupils to travel without a pass or ticket for the first full week of term. We applied an extended grace period beyond the date specified by KCC, so that any pupil who had not received a pass would be able to travel.

“From Tuesday, September 15, we expected any pupil without a valid pass to pay the appropriate fare.”