THOUSANDS of schoolchildren will be able to travel for free on buses under a county council plan that gets underway in June.

Kent County Council is to trial its pilot scheme in Canterbury, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells for two years and says it is confident the initiative will eventually be extended across the entire county.

Children aged 11-to-16 who attend schools in each of the three areas will be able to apply for a pass costing £50, entitling them to travel anywhere in Kent.

Council chiefs believe the scheme will ease congestion at peak hours by limiting the amount of traffic created by the school run, as well as offering more opportunities for young children to get around Kent all year round.

Bus operators in the three areas are expected to add up to a dozen more buses on to existing routes and may add more over time.

County transport chiefs estimate the number of pupils using buses to get about could increase by up as much as a quarter if the scheme is extended across Kent.

Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con), KCC cabinet member for transport, said: "If we can take 1,000 cars off the school run in Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge, it would make an incredible difference to the daily congestion problems people suffer in these areas."

He defended the £50 charge but accepted that there could be families with several children who could find the outlay too much and there was a risk that the charge could put people off.

"We took the view that we wanted to keep the administration of the scheme as simple as possible. I understand that if you have four children, you are looking at paying £200 but on the open market, these passes would actually be worth £1,000 in view of what they entitle children to."

The initiative could also help parents choose from a wider selection of secondary schools if they knew their child could receive help for travel costs, he added.

However, pupils who already receive free home-to-school transport will continue to get it while also being eligible to apply for a pass for off-peak travel.

The initiative stems partly from ideas put forward by the Kent Youth Parliament.

Details of how to apply for passes, which will be valid until September 2008, will be publicised around Easter.

Pupils at both KCC-run schools and independent schools in each of the areas will be eligible.