Improvements have been made to a "packed" school bus service after KentOnline revealed pictures showing pupils crowding into aisles.

Alarming photos of youngsters "squished together" on a bus in Canterbury prompted worried dad James Barham, whose son uses the service, to raise concerns over the potential spread of Covid-19.

The asthmatic father, from Aylesham, said his Year 7 son's bus home is regularly so full that pupils have to stand, while many are not wearing face coverings .

“It’s scary,” he said. “They mix with people from other schools on the bus. They could have Covid and pass it back to parents.

"My son is in bubbles at school and they’re only allowed to stay together, but then when it comes to home time they’re all bunged on the bus."

After KentOnline raised Mr Barham's concerns with Stagecoach, the bus firm said it would visit to check on the service.

Now, it says it has introduced another bus on the route to help tackle the issue.

A spokesman said: "We've reshuffled our vehicle allocation to provide an additional coach that runs in tandem with the first 89 bus to Aylesham in the afternoon.

"That means both the scheduled buses to Aylesham are now shadowed by another coach.

"I'm pleased to say that this took effect from (yesterday) afternoon and there was plenty of space for all the children to travel back home."

Mr Barham said the service is now notably quieter, but suggested the issue should not have arisen in the first place.

"It's a lot better," he said. "But why does it take for it to be reported for them to do something?

"They've had weeks - they knew when all the kids were going back. Why didn't organise something before then?"

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