PARENTS at a Watford primary school say their children will be stranded when two coach services are withdrawn later this year.

Hertfordshire County Council has announced its intention to withdraw the coaches which serve Holy Rood Infant School in Greenbank Road from April, leaving around 40 children struggling to find alternative transport to the school.

The council says it has pulled the services because they could not be justified in terms of cost, but have said they will provide a mini bus and taxi for the children who usually received free transport to school.

However parents say there are only 11 children who claim free travel, and say the majority of families pay for their children to use the services.

They claim they will now have difficulty getting their children to and from the school and some say it will mean they have to sacrifice their jobs to get their children to school.

A Hertfordshire County Council representative said: "We did not feel we could justify the service and it is unlikely the decision will be overturned.

"Those children who paid for the service will now have to find their own way to the school.

"We have been looking at schools across the area and the cost of school transport and some decisions have had to be made."

Full story in today's Watford Observer.