A mum says she is “distraught and frustrated” after her daughter’s school bus was axed.

Jackie Hardcastle, who lives in Harrietsham, near Maidstone, says Stagecoach announced the decision after many parents had already paid for their £450 KCC Travel Saver bus passes.

Her 12-year-old daughter Emily has to take the 10X bus to and from to Invicta Grammar School every day, as it is the only bus that serves the A20 between Maidstone to Ashford.

The 55-year-old said: “The first bus is at 3pm but it’s too early because the schools don’t finish until gone three.

“Without the 3.30pm bus, which has now been cut, the next bus is at 4pm.

“Because it serves most of the schools in Maidstone, by the time it gets to her school it is often full, meaning she usually has to get the second bus.

“Now, the second bus will be at 5.39pm. That’s about two hours the children would have to wait if the 4pm bus is full, which is likely.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous, she has out-of-school clubs that start at 5pm she would miss.

“I can’t believe it. They only announced this change after a lot of parents had already paid for the annual pass. Her dad and I would’ve paid for a train pass instead if we knew – it’s more expensive but at least we would know she was able to get home.”

The dogwalker has set up a petition to “oppose Stagecoach Buses limiting the service for our school children”, which has more than 130 signatures already.

She said: “I understand during the day they’re not so busy and they might need to cut costs but at school time…I can’t get my head around it – they’ve got to do something.

“They’ve cut out the most important one. It’s the only bus that serves the A20 so it’s the only one that goes through all the villages from Maidstone to Ashford to get the kids home.

“The nearest secondary school to us is Lenham but anyone that goes to Valley Park, Maidstone Grammar School, Maplesden Noakes, or Invicta, for instance, will be affected.

“A lot of people were unaware and paid for a yearly pass – schools aren’t even back yet so some people probably don’t even know about the change.”

As well as the 3.30pm service being cut, the 8.57am bus which gets into Lenham at 9.30am has been changed. For concessionary pass holders, the first bus now doesn’t reach Lenham until 10.16am, which Jackie says will force some vulnerable and older people to pay full fare for early morning hospital appointments.

She continued: “I just want my daughter to get home from school alright. It is totally unacceptable that Stagecoach aren’t concerned about the welfare of school children being vulnerable and waiting around for buses to get them home. Especially with winter approaching this will mean travelling home in the dark.

“Parents are now having to get together to arrange transport, which means more cars on the road. It’s having a wide impact.”

A Stagecoach spokesman said: "We always look very closely at passenger data before scheduling service changes, and we identified the 4pm bus as having enough spare capacity to cater for all those who need to travel.”

The firm said it would consider changes where necessary and would work with Kent County Coucil to consider adjustments where necessary.

Councillors for Harrietsham and Lenham, Janetta and Tom Sams (Green Ind Alliance) said Stagecoach had not responded to their concerns.

They said: “It is unreasonable to expect children to wait over two hours for a bus and will undoubtedly lead to more traffic congestion, more pollution, and further impact on climate change as parents drive into town to collect their sons and daughters.”