PARENTS of a Darlington schoolgirl fear for her safety after council bosses refused to allow her on the school bus, because she is not a Roman Catholic.

Victoria MacKenzie, 12, who lives in Lawrence Street, had free school transport to Carmel RC school last year but this year her parents have been told the bus is full because priority is being given to Catholic children. She will now have to get a public bus, which will leave her waiting outside the school gates for half an hour every evening.

Her father, Colin MacKenzie, said last night: "We chose to send her to Carmel because I went there and I know it is a good school. She is doing well there.

"But now we have been told she can't have a bus pass because the bus is full, as there are more Catholic children at Carmel this year and they have the priority over non-Catholics on the bus.

"She will have to wait for the bus outside the school, and then change buses in the town centre. After the Soham tragedy, we are really worried for her safety.

"I work as a market trader in the town centre and I see the kind of people who hang around there. I wouldn't want her waiting for a bus on her own. All her friends are Catholic so they got passes.

"We even offered to pay for her transport on the school bus, but they said it was full and that was that."

Because Carmel is the only Catholic comprehensive in Darlington and children have to travel to the school from across the town as opposed to their nearest state school, Catholic children are given priority when it comes to transport arrangements.

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said: "We are one of the most generous local authorities in the country over our transport to school. We spend nearly £1m each year on school transport.

"These parents have made a personal choice to send their daughter to Carmel instead of their more local school, and we can't be expected to cater for all the parents who do that, otherwise we would be spending millions."

Last year, the council was bombarded with protests by parents after it proposed restricting free transport to those living three miles from school, instead of two miles.

Instead, an audit was carried out which showed the council could save money by cutting bus places.