WORRIED parents fear their children's safety could be at risk because of a local authority's refusal to provide a school bus service.

Youngsters living in Wombleton have been told they cannot have a bus to ferry them to Ryedale School, which is two miles away in Nawton.

North Yorkshire County Council is only obliged to provide a free bus service for children who live more than three miles away from their school and the authority has dismissed an appeal by parents.

Sue Sharples, who has a 13-year-old daughter at the school, said: "There are about 18 kids who live in the village. We're about two miles away from the school, just inside the three-mile boundary.

"The only option we have is to take it in turns to do a school run, which is very difficult sometimes. If they had to walk to school, there are two routes and both are on very busy roads."

County councillor Mike Knaggs, who chairs the appeals committee, said officers had considered the shortest route for walking to be safe.

"That was one-and-a-quarter miles, nowhere near three miles," he said. "The officers considered this to be a safe road and, as there were no special circumstances involved, the appeal was turned down."