Llanfyllin High School bus row: Concerned parents meet MP Owen Paterson

A ruling by Powys County Council that Llanfyllin High School can't offer cheap transport to its out-of-catchment pupils means, parents say, that they will now have to re-think their children's future.

North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson and Shropshire Council member Vince Hunt met with parents at a meeting yesterday.

It comes as the four Powys County Council elected governors on the school's board have been suspended while investigations into the row continues.

The four governors, Councillors Peter Lewis, Aled Davies, Darren Mayor and Gwynfor Thomas, were expected to make a joint statement to Llanfyllin Town Council last night.

The council said that for the next two years some subsidies can continue – although the cost of the transport will rise from £80 a week to £120.

But from 2018 the subsidies must stop and the cost could jump to more than £660 a year.

Worried mother Sam Forster, from Pant, has three children at Llanfyllin, Maddie, 16, and younger siblings, Felix and Bridget.

"That would be £2,000 for families with three children. That is a lot of money to find," she said.

Maddie, currently doing her GCSEs also attended the meeting.

"I wanted to come because I feel so strongly about this," she said.

"We live about 500 metres from the Welsh border and there are students even closer in Llanymynech.

"There are different buses, one for the Welsh pupils and another for the English pupils that arrive at about the same time."

"It is so worrying for everyone.

"If I can not go to Llanfyllin for the sixth form I wont be able to do the A-Levels I want to do unless I travel to Shrewsbury."

Diane Lyes from Trefonen said: "The pupils are deeply worried about the situation – it is difficult to allay their fears, because we don't know the situation ourselves.

"Our son, Niall is fearful about leaving Llanfyllin School.

"We all know, that this decision is just a postponement – are we to go through this again in two years time or should we jump ship now?

"Friendships now face being pulled apart, some will stay and some will go to other schools."

Many parents said they had chosen Llanfyllin because of the pastoral care at the school, others said it was because of their Welsh heritage.

Mark Davies, from Llynclys, said his son was currently having taster sessions at the school ready to start in September.

"He has already settled in really well; the pastoral care is so good as is the school's special needs department," he said.

Clare Walker, from Oswestry, said her twin daughters, Hannah and Eloise were extremely worried.

"It's not just about friendships, its about the standard of education that they receive at Llanfyllin," she said.

"What happens now will have a bearing on their GCSEs, their A-Levels, university and ultimately their careers."

Parents also pointed out that if they stopped sending their children to Llanfyllin the cost of the bus transport for the other children could rise.

Mr Paterson told the meeting that the situation looked bleak.

"This is affecting your children now," he said.

"You need to push for a judicial review of Powys County Council's stance and perhaps even look at alternative transport and how to fund that transport."

He said he would do what he could to help including writing to the Welsh Assembly and speaking to Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies.

Councillor Hunt said he was speaking to his fellow councillors at Shropshire to see if there was any way that Shropshire Council could help ease the situation.

"It is very difficult but there should be freedom to chose where your child is educated," he said.

Another Shropshire councillor John Price said a bus would cost about £300 a day to provide.