MONMOUTH AM David Davies has written to the Operations' Director of Stagecoach in South Wales to express his concern over the insufficient capacity of the Route 69 service used by children travelling to schools in Monmouth and Chepstow from Llandogo, Tintern and other areas of the Wye Valley.
Mr Davies was first made aware of the situation by a constituent at one of his regular advice surgeries who expressed her concern that because of insufficient capacity, school children were forced to either sit three to a seat, stand, or worse, be left behind.
However, it was The Beacon which first brought the matter to the public's attention through last week's front page article headed: "Parent anger at transport mix up".
In this week's Letters to the Editor, Avril Seabury, who is organising the parents protest, has revealed the situation with the school buses, has not improved.
Mr Davies has now written to the Operation Director of Stagecoach to express his concerns and those of his constituents and has requested a meeting to discuss the situation.
Mr Davies said: "During term-time the numbers of pupils do not fluctuate a great deal and I believe Stagecoach should look at providing larger buses or extra buses to accommodate the demand.
"Whilst it is not illegal for children to sit three to a seat or stand, I don't believe that it is safe or desirable and it is wrong to leave children standing at the side of the road.
"I would like to meet with the Operation Director of Stagecoach to discuss ways of resolving this issue, especially as the expansion of Monmouth Comprehensive will mean extra children wishing to use this route from September."