RELIEVED parents are over the moon about an axed school bus route being reprieved.

Sedbergh-based pupils faced isolation after Cumbria County Council announced an end to subsidised transport for over 16s travelling into Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, in a bid to save money.

Parents would have had to drive their children to school which would have been significantly more costly and would also have had a drastic impact on congestion in the area.

But the council has now declared it intends to continue to run the service from Sedbergh, much to everyone's delight.

Jayne Haslam, who works at the Sedbergh Information Centre and whose daughter Tally goes to QES, said: "There's a lot of relieved parents now that it looks like the bus is going to be there. People are generally thankful that there's going to be some transport as it was a real worry. Car sharing for seven years was not going to be a good thing for anybody."

While costs for the buses are yet to be finalised it is expected that it will be in the region of £575.

Cathy O'Neill, Deputy Headteacher at QES, said: "While the cost of travelling from Sedbergh will be more than it is from other areas we absolutely want to keep our connection with students there. We have a historic link with students from the area and we're delighted that the route will still be running."

However, there will no longer be school buses running from Dent when the new school year starts in September.

A spokesperson from Cumbria County Council explained: "In 2014 we decided to no longer provide subsidised transport to post-16 students unless they were from low income families. There aren't any children from low income families or under 16 travelling to Kirkby Lonsdale from Dent but we do have a statutory duty to pick up some children between Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale so we decided to extend that route into Sedbergh as it made financial sense."