OPPOSITION county councillors have pleaded with the ruling Tory group not to scrap school bus services.

As Hertfordshire county Council struggles to make savings, it has launched a consultation on cutting school transport, with the most drastic option the scrapping of all non-statutory services.

Some children are legally entitled to school transport, for example those with special educational needs, or living more than two miles from their nearest primary school, but Hertfordshire County Council's eligibility rules are less strict.

Councillor Ron Tindall, Lib Dem spokesman for schools, said: "We quite understand that the county council must look for savings and that the current provision is greater than the statutory minimum.

"Nevertheless, a great deal of parents and children rely on the current system to get to and from school. If is is reduced to the legal minimum, there will be more cars on the roads and more people using expensive bus services.

"We propose that the county council retain a central buying function into which schools could opt - schools could either pay for the service out of their own resources or arrange for parents to contribute financially."

He argued this would keep charges from bus companies low and give schools influence over what services services were retained.

Councillor Tindall added: "We look forward to hearing from parents of their views on these proposals, and any other suggestions they may have for modernising the school transport system."

Councillor Richard Thake, cabinet member for schools, responded: "We are having to make cuts across the board, and unfortunately education can not be exempt.

"We don't want to cause difficulties for parents, so we want to find out which of the options would leave them least dissatisfied.

"Until we know the details of our financial settlement, and until the consultation is finished, it would be premature to say what we will do."