AMERICAN-style buses could be introduced in parts of Kent to ferry hundreds of children to and from school.

Kent’s new education chief Cllr John Simmonds says he wants to explore the idea of introducing more buses to ease the chronic problems of congestion around schools and at rush-hour periods in busy town centres.

It could also improve access to schools for some pupils. The Government has announced plans to allow free school transport for pupils on low-incomes up to a distance of six miles.

Yellow buses are a familiar sight in the USA, transporting tens of thousands of children daily.

Cllr Simmonds (Con), KCC’s newly-appointed cabinet member for education, said a similar scheme could have a significant impact on road traffic and potentially improve safety.

"It could work very well in some areas but I would have to have the money and the freedom to do it. When you look at schools and the mass of parents who come in these big 4x4 cars, it is ridiculous.

"We do genuinely want to take a look at it. You only have to have experienced the roads over the half-term holiday to realise what impact taking so many cars off the road has."

He singled out Canterbury, Maidstone and Sheppey as areas where the idea could be trialled. "The congestion is bad enough already in those towns. If we can make it work and so the funding stacks up, we will look at it seriously."

Under Government reforms, unveiled in its White Paper, councils will have to provide children who already receive free meals with free travel to any one of the three secondary schools closest to their home.

In America, more than half of all pupils use 450,000 yellow buses daily to get to school.

KCC already spends £21million on school transport, with a significant chunk of that going on special needs pupils.