ANGRY parents say they have had to wait until the last minute to pick up school bus passes for their children.

Parents were forced to go to Darlington Town Hall on Monday afternoon, the day before the start of the new school term, because they had not received their passes.

Town hall staff said administration problems with computers and bus timetables meant that some applications for bus passes were not processed until the last moment.

Jan Allinson, whose 11-year-old son, Joseph, has just started at Hummersknott Comprehensive School, said there was chaos at the town hall as worried parents queued to be seen by staff.

She said: "It was absolute bedlam down there. Last Tuesday they said they were in the post, and they didn't arrive. Last Friday they said they were in the post and they still didn't arrive. So we went to the town hall, and there were kids and parents who had been there two-and-a-half hours waiting for bus passes that just had not appeared."

Linda Fort, who lives in Bartlett Street, said she had to wait until Monday to be told that her 11-year-old son David did not qualify for a pass.

She had to go to appeal to get her son into Hummersknott Comprehensive School.

But when she went to the town hall, she was told David would not be getting a bus pass, leaving her little time to make alternative arrangements to get him to his new school.

Mrs Fort said: "They've decided that he can't have a bus pass for Hummersknott, but they did not have the courtesy or decency to tell us until I went to the town hall on Monday. It meant I had to get him to school myself and rely on a friend to make sure he got home.

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said everyone who qualified got their bus passes on time, except for a few who did not apply until Monday.

He said: "We put out somewhere between 700 and 800 bus passes altogether, so 20 or so is not a great deal to be left with on the last day.

"However, it is still 20 too many for the people who need them. We understand that and we apologise for the inconvenience.