A BUS company is considering using vehicles equipped with CCTV to take children to school in a bid to curb rowdy behaviour.

Wilts & Dorset Bus Company are contracted by Dorset County Council to pick up and drop off more than 500 children from the Purbeck School, Wareham, every day.

A series of complaints from drivers about the behaviour of the schoolchildren has led to talks with the local authorities about fitting the double-deckers with security cameras.

A county council spokesperson said: "We are aware of the problem and are currently working with the Purbeck School to look at how some school journeys could be improved.

"Although most bus companies would be willing to have an adult supervisor on board for school journeys, there is currently no budget available for the employment of paid escorts.

"However, we are always prepared to consider suitable volunteer escorts, subject to the necessary police checks being completed satisfactorily.

"Ultimately, we believe that CCTV probably offers a better solution, although again there are considerable financial implications. We have had initial discussions with Wilts & Dorset about using buses with CCTV installed and will continue to explore the options open to us."

But the head teacher of Purbeck School, Richard Holman, claims most of the reported incidents were caused by a small minority of pupils travelling on the bus to Swanage, who have now been disciplined.

"We have 20 school bus runs a day here, and the buses are used by more than 500 pupils," he explained. "We have very, very few incidents indeed.

"We know our students leave school in an orderly fashion and the drivers know if the students misbehave we encourage them to turn round and bring them back to school."

Operations director of Wilts & Dorset Bus Company Andrew Wickham admitted there had been complaints by the drivers about the behaviour of students, but the company has worked closely with the school to identify the ringleaders and improve the situation.

He explained how the company was looking at different strategies to try and improve behaviour and the safety of the children on board, including free tickets for teachers and the introduction of adult escorts.

First published: October 19