I CANNOT help but agree with the concerned parent who voiced their opinion with regard to bus travel to and from school in Redditch (Advertiser, September 24).

I have heard a lot in the last few days about the Government's financial proposals to reduce the number of parents taking children to school by car.

I myself drop off and pick up my four children from local schools. It takes me an hour in the morning and the same in the afternoon, on the way to and from work. Why do I torture myself with this daily journey?

The answer is I do not wish to pay a large amount of my hard-earned cash on bus passes for my children to have to run the gauntlet of school bus travel.

Over time, I have seen pupils standing crammed on buses, drivers smoking with children on board, buses taking the wrong route - all on top of statements from First that other passengers subsidise children's travel to school.

Furthermore, if my 10-year-old daughter were to use the school bus service she would have to use a public bus service in the afternoon as the bus no longer travels to the school grounds. This would mean a quick run along a busy road to catch the 3.10pm bus or a wait at a roadside stop for 30 minutes for the next bus.

So I will persist in driving my children to school despite the Government's helpful suggestions because I value my children's safety and cannot afford to pay for public transport.

Until the time when a proper, dedicated, safe and economical (and no - I'm not asking for other passengers to subsidise this) mode of school transport transpires, I shall maintain my daily routine.

Mrs Jane Lloyd

Wychwood Drive

Hunt End