Schoolchildren in Dovercourt were left stranded on Friday when their coach for a day out to London failed to turn up.

Eighty pupils from years five and six at Mayflower Primary School were due to arrive in London at 10.15am to visit the London Aquarium and then the National Gallery for a key stage two assignment.

But their coach, travelling from Thurrock, was found to have a faulty air valve and no replacement was available.

The trip has now been re-arranged for July 15, after school staff spent Friday in a series of frantic phone calls to the coach companies, the aquarium and the gallery.

Margaret North, headteacher, said: "The children were absolutely gutted. We were waiting at the school at 7:30am and then told at 8am that we had to cancel it.

"We're so relieved that the trip can now go ahead again."

John Bridge, managing director of Supreme coaches, which had contracted the job to Harris Coaches in Thurrock, said: "By the time we heard about the technical problem it was too late to sort out a replacement."

Dennis Harris, director of Harris coaches, said: "The faulty air valve meant the door of the coach could not shut.

"It's terrible this happened but we did all we could."

Published Monday, June 30, 2003

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