Mum's anger after schoolboy left alone
AN ANGRY mother has called for urgent answers after her five-year-old son was left on his own after being dropped off by the school bus.Henry Stafford was forced to cower in his front garden, in floods of tears, at his home in Bradfield St George, near Bury St Edmunds, after his bus arrived almost 30 minutes before the scheduled time.
AN ANGRY mother has called for urgent answers after her five-year-old son was left on his own after being dropped off by the school bus.
Henry Stafford was forced to cower in his front garden, in floods of tears, at his home in Bradfield St George, near Bury St Edmunds, after his bus arrived almost 30 minutes before the scheduled time.
His mother, Lucy, who arrived five minutes after the bus, has demanded answers and raised questions about the contingency plans of the school buses run by Suffolk County Council.
Mrs Stafford said: “The whole thing was such a shock. It was not as if I was even running late. I got there 15 minutes before the bus's scheduled time but Henry had already been dropped off.
You may also want to watch:
“When you pick up children from school, staff would never dare let them go without a parent arriving first. It should be the same for school buses.
“They shouldn't be allowed to leave a five-year-old - what would have happened if I had been in an accident or something?”
Most Read
- 1 'An absolute honour' –Ipswich woman crowned Miss Universe Great Britain
- 2 Man pulled into car before being beaten and robbed in Ipswich
- 3 Ipswich market moves as work starts on Botanist restaurant
- 4 Is a new tenant lined up to move into Ancient House in Ipswich?
- 5 Giant inflatable obstacle course coming to an Ipswich park
- 6 'Don't wait' - People urged to get coronavirus booster
- 7 Major delays on A12 after five vehicle crash
- 8 Father and son admit keeping banned weapons at Woodbridge home
- 9 Additional measures including face masks to be reintroduced to Suffolk schools
- 10 'I miss him to bits' – Ipswich fundraiser for Alton Water teen deaths
Henry, a pupil at Cockfield Primary School, was left alone on March 17 when the school bus he was travelling on dropped him off too early.
A spokesman for the county council said the route from Cockfield Primary School varied depending on how many children use the service on a particularly day.
He added: “This can lead to a small variation in the timetable, meaning that on some days the bus could be slightly later or earlier than stated on the timetable.
“Bearing this in mind, we would encourage parents to be at the collection point a few minutes earlier. We do sympathise with Mrs Stafford's concerns but if we were to wait, it would affect the service even more.”
