EIGHT children were taken to hospital after they were hit by debris when a tyre on a school bus exploded.

The Chipping Norton School pupils, aged 11 and 12, had just been dropped off by the bus at the junction of The Slade and Ditchley Road, in Charlbury, when the incident happened.

Now their parents are calling for the bus’s operator, Witney firm RH Transport, to carry out an investigation into what happened.

Malcolm Blackmore, whose 12-year-old daughter was one of the children injured, said: “We’re not happy.”

He said his daughter was quite close to where the tyre exploded and ended up with 60 to 70 marks on her legs and a large bruise.

Businessman Mr Blackmore, 54, of Charlbury, said: “It looks like she has been peppered with a shotgun or mauled by mosquitoes.”

A Thames Valley Police spokesman confirmed that the children were taken to The Horton Hospital, in Banbury, to be treated for minor injuries after the incident, which happened at about 3.35pm on Tuesday.

The spokesman said details of the incident had been passed to the Health & Safety Executive for further investigation.

Oxfordshire County Council, which organises school transport, said that it was looking into what had happened.

No-one was available at RH Transport’s Downs Road office for comment.