A ROUTE which could be used by children to get to school is a 'tip' according to a local action team. From September, there will be no places for Locking children on the school bus to Worle. North Somerset Council says it does not have to provide free tra

A ROUTE which could be used by children to get to school is a 'tip' according to a local action team.From September, there will be no places for Locking children on the school bus to Worle.North Somerset Council says it does not have to provide free transport if the distance from home to school is less than three miles.Until now, Locking children have been entitled to free bus places to get them to and from Worle School in Redwing Drive.Parent Rachel Bailey is campaigning for the council to reverse its decision and a petition is being signed throughout the village.Mrs Bailey said: "The petition is going well and so far there are more than 150 signatures. There is also a petition in the Coach House pub."Members of Locking's Local Action Team (LAT) have walked the route and said they were concerned about children's safety.LAT secretary Molly Lee said: "The council measured the route from the bottom of the village to the school which is 2.2 miles. But for children living on the other side of the village, it is more than three miles."It's also wrong for the council to say the route is safer now because there is an underpass in place. It was put in about 15 years ago."The traffic noise is so loud that even if a child was in trouble and raised an alarm, nobody would be able to hear. "When the LAT members walked the route they said it was an eye-opener. It's a dumping ground for rubbish, and we saw discarded clothing and even used condoms. It's a tip."The council doesn't seem to have carried out the proper risk assessment before making this decision."North Somerset councillors Elfan Ap Rees and Peter Kehoe will walk the proposed route today (Fri) to assess villagers' concerns.Locking Parish Council was due to discuss the matter at its meeting last night (Thurs).