Footage shows pupils watching in dismay as a packed bus sweeps past, leaving them stranded at the roadside.

The youngsters hoping to board at the stop in Kingston, near Canterbury, have ended up being late for school almost every day.

Their parents - who are forking out £450 a year per child for bus passes - are calling on Stagecoach to put on more services to the village.

Claire Weedon, 50, told KentOnline: “We’ve all been running around wasting so much time and energy but, of course, some kids don’t have that option.

“Not every parent can drop everything to take their child to school - it’s just not workable.

“Even with an inspector on board, not all the kids can get on. Every day some children have been left behind.

“They wait for the next bus - but because it’s so busy, they’re running late, which is making the problem worse.”

Mrs Weedon’s children are in year eight and in year 10 at the Simon Langton grammars in Canterbury.

She pays £900 for two Kent County Council (KCC) travel savers and prior to this year there had been no issue.

But the small business owner says Stagecoach has reduced the number of school-time services running through the village from three to two.

As a result, the bus which used to trail the 7.51am service by just five minutes on the number 17 route no longer comes - with the next arriving at 8.15.

Since term started last week, her oldest child has been regularly late for school.

“It’s very stressful for children’s mental health if they have to be crammed onto a bus or wind up getting to school late...”

Pupils attending Barton Court and the Canterbury Academy are also impacted.

Mrs Weedon said: “We need another bus so all the kids can get to school on time safely.

“It’s not safe to be standing on the stairs. We want to see our kids safely and calmly get to school - young people go through enough these days.

“It’s very stressful for children’s mental health if they have to be crammed onto a bus or wind up getting to school late. There’s got to be a way to resolve this.”

County councillor Mike Sole, who represents Canterbury South, says he has been bombarded with complaints about the issue and is in regular dialogue with KCC.

Following meetings between the council and Stagecoach, it was initially decided to send buses with extra capacity - but Cllr Sole says this has not worked.

“Stagecoach rather bizarrely calculated that if all passengers evenly distribute themselves over two buses there would be enough capacity for them but this clearly isn’t the case,” he said.

“The first bus gets filled up and if you’re a pupil towards the end of the line you’re not getting on that bus. By the time the second bus comes, they’re going to be late for school.

“It’s unacceptable. We can’t have children late for school and people paying for bus passes they can’t use. It’s a disgrace, really.

“If both the buses were to arrive at the same time, that might sort the problem, but I do believe three buses is what we need.”

A spokesperson for Stagecoach said: "We want everyone who needs to travel to be able to get to where they need to be.

“We provide two double deck buses on this corridor at school times and our inspectors have travelled on both of these this week to assess capacity.

"The first bus is very busy and will usually be full by the time it reaches Kingston.

“However, the second bus, scheduled to serve Kingston at 0814, does have spare capacity and will stop to pick up passengers through towards Canterbury."

Stagecoach came under fire earlier this month for its morning services on the other side of the city.

Paul Barkaway was “deeply unimpressed” that his 11-year-old daughter was unable to board her school bus in Dunkirk, near Faversham.

The bus company’s Folkestone depot closed earlier this month as it claims the viability of its operations in the area has declined over recent years.

KentOnline revealed as many as 50 staff, including many drivers, chose to leave Stagecoach as a result.