A DOUBLE-decker bus, the first in Worcester for decades, has been specially brought in from Leicester so that every child can have a seat on the daily school run to Malvern.

It follows a protest by Councillor Tom Wells on behalf of parents worried about children standing on the 20-minute journey from Powick along the A449 to Dyson Perrins High School.

Commercial operator First in the Midlands is allowed to carry as many as 24 standing passengers, but Coun Wells said it was a recipe for disaster.

He refused to accept the first alternative put forward, for Dyson Perrins pupils to be carried on The Chase High School bus.

"Whoever suggested that did not understand that children are often quite tribal about their schools," he said. "There would have been a distinct possibility of trouble."

He pressed First's managing director Ian Humphreys to lay on a bigger bus and said he was satisfied with the offer of the double-decker.

Company spokesman Austin Birks said the bus was brought to Worcester this week, but before it went into service, drivers had to be trained and the route checked for overhead hazards.

Coun Wells said he had had to press hard to get this result and felt Worcestershire County Council's policy on school buses needed revising.

"It's only a few years ago, following an awful accident with a school minibus, that the rules were changed to demand seatbelts.

"Yet far from having seatbelts, these children were still having to stand."

The council's passenger transport officer, Peter Roberts, said seatbelts had to be fitted on coaches contracted for school services, but not on local buses.

"We try to avoid having too many children standing on buses if there is any way round it, but it's not illegal and there may be circumstances when we have no option," he said.