A headteacher of a Braintree academy fears connections with a primary school will suffer following a decision to axe free school bus services.

Trevor Lawn, principal at Alec Hunter Academy, in Stubbs Lane, has slammed Essex County Council’s new rules that new Year 7 pupils will only be entitled to free school transport if they attend their closest school, which is three miles or further from home.

From September, the free school bus places will remain for pupils already attending the school and are available to children from low income families.

However, other parents will be forced to pay about £665 a year for a place on the bus if their children do not attend their closest school.

Parents living in Silver End have been offered free school transport to New Rickstones Academy, in Witham, however the village falls in the catchment area for Alec Hunter Academy, which they will have to pay for.

Mr Lawn said: “It removes the right of parents to make a choice of education for their child on the basis of what they feel will be best for the young person concerned and instead coerces them into making a financial decision based on what they can afford."

See the Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.