Pupils in a south Oxfordshire village are to be excluded from their over-subscribed school bus service on the grounds of age.

Some of the Wootton parents and children who will be affected by the change to the school bus

Families in Wootton, near Abingdon, who pay for their children to travel to Fitzharrys, John Mason and Lark Mead schools in Abingdon, were told last week that pupils in Years 10 and above would no longer be able to use the bus.

They are not entitled to free transport because they are just within the statutory three-mile distance from their schools -- but until now children of all ages have been offered a concessionary county council service at a cost of about £38 a term.

Parents say there is no suitable alternative and warn the move will add to road congestion as more cars join the school run.

There is an hourly public bus service between Wootton and Abingdon, but parents are worried about their children crossing a busy road to get to the bus stop and facing long waits.

They are also concerned that to walk or cycle, children would have to cross the B4017 Wootton Road, where 17-year-old Abingdon pupil David Jones was killed in May as he pushed his bike across the road.

Oxfordshire County Council reduced the school bus service from a double-decker to a single decker last year, saying there were not enough passengers to warrant the larger vehicle.

It is now saying the service is heavily oversubscribed this year, forcing it to come up with a cut-off point determined by age.

Tracy Whiskin, whose 14-year-old son has been using the service, is among about 20 families in the village affected by the cuts to the service.

She said: "The council said there weren't enough children to warrant a double decker service but last year the children were crammed together on the single decker sitting three-to-a-seat and standing in the aisles.

"I don't drive, the public bus is not suitable so he can either walk or ride a bike, but there's no safe way to get across the Wootton Road.

"He's doing art and won't be able to carry a big portfolio on his bike."

Heather Ward said: "My daughter will have to walk nearly three miles to school which is fine in the morning but it's another thing for her to be coming home alone on dark winter evenings."

Neil Darlington, education officer for admissions and transport, said: "There was an imbalance in Wootton between the number of people who wanted to travel and the size of the vehicle that we could reasonably run.

"We like to be able to make places available but we have to consider the council tax payer and laying on another bus could cost up to £28,000 for the year.

"There are now more people that want to use the bus than we have places for so we have differentiated amongst the concessionary fare payers by age."