Bus war breaks out at Penketh High School

A BUS war has broken out at Penketh High School in Warrington, with two rival operators bidding to win over the same pupils.

But with both bus operators arriving ahead of schedule in a bid to pick up pupils, some have been left stranded – resulting in the school having to send out their own mini bus to collect them.

Bus Operator David Fairbrother who runs independent bus company Fairbrothers, claims the Penketh Principal and members of his staff have attempted to physically block pupils boarding his buses when they arrive to collect them after school – and instructed them to use rival bus firm Springfield based in Moore- which he says, breaks bus de-regulation laws allowing fair competition.

David Fairbrother

Mr Fairbrother said: “We are still running as normal, but Mr Dunne has asked another operator to run the same service as us.

“He tried to tell us he did not want our services anymore, which is not easy as it is a regular service, not funded by the school or the council.

“He has no control over our services which we have been running almost faultless for over 15 years.

“He is trying to refuse us entry to the layby in front of school, he is telling our driver to close their door and standing in front of it and getting members of staff to stand there and directing pupils to the other buses. This is illegal. The children and parents should be able to choose which bus they get on.”

Mr Fairbrother said he was seeking legal advice about the situation.

He added: “We need the support of the parents to put pressure on the school to stop this illegal act.

“This week we are offering children a return ticket For £1 only so they get home in afternoon for free.
“From next week there will be a return fare for £1.50. There will also be a weekly £7 unlimited travel on any Fairbrother services including the 16X Dallam 21X Orford and the 1C Westy Monday to Saturday.”

Principal Ben Dunne said: “As Principal of Penketh High School, my primary duty on behalf of all my pupils and their parents is to ensure that every child in this school is safe, happy and achieves well. It is not acceptable in my view for any child to miss school, be left standing at a bus stop or be late to school because of competition between different bus providers on the same route.

“My understanding is that this situation initially arose following the deregulation of the bus routes some years back. Last year too many pupils at PHS were late or absent because of this situation. OFSTED quite rightly have also raised this as an issue and we are actively addressing it as a school, something my parents would quite rightly expect. I refuse to accept a situation that I am told I can do nothing about.

“In June I met with Fairbrothers to inform them of our intentions to improve the safeguarding, punctuality and attendance of students to school by moving to Springfields as our single preferred provider who were more reliable and with a fleet of buses that more closely matched the high expectations we have as a school. This gave Fairbrothers ample time to deregister the route. Parents were then informed of our decision and our website also made this clear from the start of the summer holidays. I must also stress that I have to date not had a single parental complaint about the quality of service provided by Springfields so far this term.

“The school layby falls within the boundary of the Academy’s lease and my position of last resort, which Fairbrothers were fully aware of, has been that at the end of the school day, students have been boarding our three Springfield buses and not boarding what I have been advised is an illegally parked bus on private property.

“I want only what is best for my students who I care passionately about. I am not an expert in traffic law, but I have taken sound advice regarding my current position. I do remain unapologetic about recognising that children only get one chance and a single day missed at school beyond a families control is one day too many.”

He added that since Fairbrothers had now dropped their prices pupils would be able to choose which bus service to use.

“My job should be running a school not getting involved in a bus war. I will be asking the local authority to look at resolving these kind of problems.”

Penketh principal Ben Dunne