BUS company Wilts and Dorset has admitted a driver was wrong when he turfed a mother and three of her children off after trying to charge them full fare.

Alison Wilkinson says on another occasion she was unable to get on a bus because she had a pushchair and there was already one buggy in the luggage rack.

Alison Wilkinson moved back to Dorset from Blackpool three months ago with husband Peter and children Mark, 11, Ryan, 10, six-year-old Thomas and 11-month-old Catherine Louise.

Thomas, who goes to Mudeford Infant School, has suffered from a hyperplastic heart from birth and finds it difficult to walk any distance.

Mrs Wilkinson's daily 10-minute school run on the 105 from Fairmile to Purewell Cross had been costing £2.50 - £1 for herself and 50p for the three boys.

But last Thursday the driver told her she had to pay four full fares totalling £4 as the journey was before 9am.

Mrs Wilkinson only had £2.50 in her purse.

"He said 'Pay the fare or get off', and I said 'All right, I'll get off because I'm not paying a pound for a child'," said Mrs Wilkinson.

Thomas was very distressed by the incident, said his mother, who ended up walking her children to school.

Mrs Wilkinson says that two weeks earlier she was barred from getting on a 105 bus with her daughter's pushchair because there was already one buggy in the rack.

"Blackpool buses and trams are brilliant. Now I've come down here to be with the family it's been a nightmare," she said.

Andrew Wickham, operations director at Wilts & Dorset, said: "We're really sorry she had the embarrassment of being put off the bus."

He added: "The situation is that we still offer half fare for children in the Bournemouth area. I'm sorry that this happened but the guy on the day made a genuine mistake.

"There was no malice intended and we apologise."

Mrs Wilkinson should contact him at Poole and she would be recompensed, he said.

The number of pushchairs allowed on a bus is left to the discretion of the driver, he said.

"At the end of next month we are putting much bigger buses on the route so the service will be a lot better then."

First published: September 28