27 June 2012 Last updated at 01:07 ET

Drayton free school bus cut decision overturned

A decision to cut a free school bus service for some pupils in Oxfordshire has been overturned on appeal.

Only children living more than three miles (5km) from their school qualify for free travel.

The county council found some pupils in Drayton had been receiving a free service when they should not have been.

It asked them to start paying £240 a year but about 20 parents appealed to a panel of councillors who used their discretion to uphold their appeal.

The council previously argued the journey was safe to make on foot.

'Transparent process'

But parents in the village said the walk took an hour and was unsafe because there was no street lighting along busy roads.

The appeal panel of three councillors commissioned a road safety assessment but concluded it to be "anodyne and lacking in the detail" required to convince them the route was safe.

In conclusion the panel decide the route was unsafe and upheld the decision.

A council spokesman said: "The council provides an honest and transparent process through which people can appeal against decisions such as the one relating to the Drayton School bus.

"That appeal was heard and the judgement has now been delivered."