PARENTS of a disabled girl are refusing to send her to school following concerns over the council’s chosen transport operator.

Eleanor Taylor, 13, known as Ellie, who is unable to speak due to a rare form of epilepsy, attends Regency High School in Worcester. Due to her condition, she travels each day from her home in Dunlin Drive, Kidderminster, in a taxi with an escort.

But her parents have not sent her to school since the start of the term on January 4 following Worcestershire County Council’s decision to change from Regency Taxis to Crown Radio Taxis, as well as assigning a new escort.

The change was announced in early December and, as a result, Ellie’s parents, Andrew and Caroline Taylor sent messages to the council asking for details of safety checks carried out around the new arrangements.

They have concerns about the service Crown Radio Taxis will provide, due to a number of issues with the firm, previously reported in the Worcester News.

In 2012, a Crown Radio Taxis driver, Bilal Baig – the son of the firm's owner – was given a community order after he admitted dumping confidential medical notes which he was supposed to deliver to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

In 2013, Crown Radio's owner, Khurshid Baig, had his operator’s licence revoked over a number of safety fears regarding the firm's vehicles, including ‘loose wheel nuts’ on a coach taking children to school, after allegations that a wheel had fallen off.

After raising these issues with the council, Mr and Mrs Taylor say they are still awaiting a full response.

Mrs Taylor said: “We asked the council to provide us with confirmation of what safety checks are done at what intervals to set our minds at rest that they have conducted due diligence. They still have not answered our questions and not even responded to our last email on January 3.

"These children need continuity and parents need to know their child is safe.”

Mrs Taylor said she can't take Ellie to school because her daughter Olivia, seven, starts school in Kidderminster at the same time.

Ellie is thought to have Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) which features the gradual or sudden loss of the ability to understand and use spoken language.

Councillor Marcus Hart, county council cabinet member with responsibility for education, said Crown Radio Taxis had passed all of the necessary checks.

He said: “The company has provided all of the relevant documentation to become an approved supplier for the county council, we therefore have no reason not to award the contract to them. The results of all our checks have been communicated fully to the families who access the service.”

Crown Radio Taxis declined to comment when contacted by the Worcester News.