Blunder sees nine-year-old boy taken to wrong house

A nine-year-old boy was left at the roadside when he was taken from his school to the wrong house by a council contractor. It meant he was forced to walk the two miles back to school.

Police were about to mount a search for the boy using the force helicopter.

In an e-mail to contractors, who take children and vulnerable adults to and from school, Telford & Wrekin Council said last Friday's incident 'could have been disastrous for the child, the council and the company concerned'.

The e-mail, shown to the Shropshire Star, is from the borough council's contract officer Martyn Withnall.

In it he said: "There was an extremely serious incident where a child was taken to the wrong address and then just left on the side of the road.

"The child was nine years old and thankfully he had the presence of mind to walk two miles to school. I was talking to the police when he arrived at school. The police were about to deploy the police helicopter and mount a search."

Mr Withnall went on to say the council was now adopting a 'zero tolerance' approach to anyone who does not hand over a child to a teacher, parent or carer.

He wrote: "I am sure you can appreciate what would happen to the reputation of your company if an incident did occur and a child or vulnerable adult were harmed."

He said failure to comply would lead to loss of the contract. Nobody from Telford & Wrekin Council was available for comment today.