Four teenagers say they were left stranded a mile from home in the dark after a bus driver refused to drop them off at the right place.

Ben Gilkes, 16, claims the Stagecoach bus he was travelling on should have dropped him off yards from his home in Park Lane, Appleton -- but instead he and three other teenagers had to walk from the A420 along an unlit country lane on Saturday (March 12) at about 11pm.

He said: "I was on the late night bus which goes from Oxford to Swindon and should have gone through Appleton, but the driver completely missed the stop.

"He made us get off at the A420, so we had to walk along a long country lane in pitch black dark."

Mr Gilkes, a pupil at Matthew Arnold School in Cumnor, near Oxford, had been travelling alone on the number 66 Stagecoach bus, a special late night service run by Stagecoach Swindon that is partly subsidised by Oxfordshire County Council.

It was set up to ensure people living in some of the county's most rural areas have transport available to them. The route is supposed to go through villages such as Cumnor and Appleton on route to Swindon.

"Luckily there were four of us all wanting to get off at Appleton, otherwise it could have meant being left alone," he said. "It was a dangerous situation. When we realised he wasn't taking the usual route, we told him but he refused to listen and never gave us a reason why he wasn't taking us to Appleton.

"It was very scary. There wasn't much of a grass verge to walk on and if a car had come along the road, it wouldn't have seen us, so we were at risk."

Ben's mother, Elizabeth, said: "I have heard of this sort of thing happening before and in this case it was lucky one person wasn't left on their own.

"I wouldn't be happy about Ben taking the bus alone again after this. We have complained to Stagecoach."

Richard Hall, operations manager for Stagecoach Swindon, said: "Investigations are currently under way to look at the circumstances. The story is not as clear as it initially appears. We can say no more at this stage."

Mr Hall said the bus driver would be questioned as part of the investigation.