I have received the latest invoice from Oxfordshire County Council for the school bus service from Cumnor village to Matthew Arnold School. The school is less than two miles away, a little too far for my daughter to walk safely in the dark winter months.

The cost last term was £40 but this has now increased to £74 for the autumn term -- a staggering increase of 85 per cent.

With so much pressure being put on parents not to drive children to school, how can the county council justify such an increase?

Sarah Ballard, Leys Road, Cumnor, Oxford