AN MP has welcomed the re-introduction of a vital school bus service next week, after it was cancelled last month amid public outcry.Suffolk County Council said it had arranged for an afternoon service operated by Galloway's for school pupils in Onehouse to start again next Monday.

AN MP has welcomed the re-introduction of a vital school bus service next week, after it was cancelled last month amid public outcry.

Suffolk County Council said it had arranged for an afternoon service operated by Galloway's for school pupils in Onehouse to start again next Monday.

But David Ruffley, the Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds, pledged to continue to fight on until the morning service was also reinstated.

The bus will be used by youngsters from Onehouse, Harleston and Shelland who go to Stowmarket Middle and High and Chilton Primary Schools.

The service had been axed by First Eastern Counties after the county council decided it

would be more cost-effective for five children who used the bus and who were entitled to transport to school, to be sent by taxi instead.

But the bus was also used by other children, who paid to use the service. However, First Eastern Counties said without the county council-funded pupils, it was not economically viable.

When the service was cancelled last month, worried parents spoke of their fears for the safety of their children walking along busy roads to and from school.

Mr Ruffley said: "This is good news and will go a long way towards solving the problems faced by parents in Onehouse.

"The afternoon school run is always more difficult for working parents, so I am delighted that Galloway's are able to provide a bus to get children home from school.

"I was concerned that my young constituents in Onehouse were being expected to walk along the road to Stowmarket, which for over half a mile has no pavement and for one mile has no lighting.

"Children should be encouraged to walk where it is safe to do so, but this road is simply not suitable. If a bus operator can offer a morning service as well, that will be the icing on the cake."