ANGRY parents have criticised bus drivers who left their children stranded at the roadside.

Parents Francis and Gary Green, and father Trevor Sturgess, have both lodged complaints with Arriva bus operators, after their children were left at different bus stops in Maidstone.

In the first incident, Mr and Mrs Green’s twin sons, Killi and Lee, 11, were boarding the number 12 bus in Sutton Road, Maidstone, after school when Killi realised he could not find his fare.

Lee had already paid his £1 and offered to pay 50p towards his brother’s fare with the only change he had on him. But according to the boys, the driver told Killi he must pay the full £1 fare or get off.

Passenger Sarah Still, 26, of Green Lane, Langley, who witnessed the incident, offered to lend Killi 50p, but the driver refused to let the youngster remain on the bus.

“I could see that he was distressed, as was his brother, so I thought I could give him the extra money to make up the fare,” said Miss Still. “I asked him to open the doors but he said 'No, I want to get home’ and he drove off.”

Lee stayed on the bus and made his way back to the family home in Heath Road, Langley, to alert his mother about what had happened.

Meanwhile, Killi was picked up by a neighbour who spotted him at the side of the road and was driven home.

Mrs Green said: “The bus driver should not have left my son or leave any children at a bus stop,”

Two weeks later, 12-year-old Invicta Grammar School student Zoe Sturgess attempted to flag down a number 8 at the bus stop opposite Turkey Mill, Maidstone.

Zoe, who had been playing in a netball match after school had ended for the day, put out her hand to flag down the bus, which drove straight past her.

She called her parents and began walking the two-and-a-half miles home alone, eventually meeting her mother walking the other way to find her.

Her father, Trevor Sturgess, from Downswood, near Maidstone, said: “The driver just gave her a quizzical look and carried on.”

He added: “Drivers should know what goes through a parent’s mind when their child is left alone on a dangerous road. It is exposing our children to a potentially tremendous danger.”

“We are encouraged to use public transport. Why should we when this happens?”

Mr Sturgess said he had alerted Maidstone Borough Council that there was nothing to identify the bus stop as a dedicated stop and the driver may not have realised it was one.

A Maidstone council spokesman said: “We have made sure that the missing pole and bus stop sign are replaced as quickly as possible.

“We have asked the bus company to replace their bus stop flag and to remind their drivers to stop at that location.”

Arriva Southern Counties’ commercial director, Kevin Hawkins, said: “Our drivers are aware that no young person should be asked to leave the bus and have ways in which travel can be allowed and fares collected afterwards.

"We expect our drivers to be courteous to all customers at all times and will be investigating this incident with the driver further.”

An Arriva spokeswoman said: “Clearly we are concerned to learn of this incident and will be taking the matter up with the driver concerned.

"We have received a complaint from Zoe’s family and will of course go back to them direct once our investigations are complete.”