PARENTS in a County Durham village have been told their children cannot use the school bus because they are not Catholic.

The 13 affected students from Heighington, between Darlington and Newton Aycliffe, all attend Carmel RC College in Darlington.

They have been told that as the 33-seater bus they usually use is full with Catholic pupils, they will have to make their own way to school.

The move, instigated by Darlington Borough Council, has been branded "crazy" by local ward councillor Gerald Lee, who said the students affected are being discriminated against because of their faith.

Coun Lee added that the environmental impact of transporting 13 pupils individually is a contradiction of central government policy.

In a letter to the council, Coun Lee said: "Councillors and the general public are bombarded with literature, newspaper articles and reports all emphasising the need for each individual to take seriously the need to reduce carbon.

"Yet we are asking 13 parents to drive their children into school when at the same time these could travel by a school bus."

The affected parents could be made to take time off work to drop-off and pick-up their children from school. Coun Lee claimed the alternative of public transport was not acceptable.

He said: "It is a crazy situation.

"Perhaps Darlington Borough Council expect the children to use public transport into and out of Darlington. For 11 and 12-year-old children in particular this is not an option.

"They would have to leave before 8am and then walk through busy traffic, a good distance from the Darlington bus stop into school and then the same to come home."

One mother, who did not want to be named, said she was astonished to learn she would have to make the twice daily trip into Darlington.

She said: "It's very difficult because I have to get one daughter to Carmel, then get back to take my other girl to Heighington Primary, then I have to take my little boy to pre-school.

"It is an absolute disgrace. This is discrimination, if my daughter had been baptised in a Catholic church she would have a place on the bus."

A council spokesman said yesterday that the authority is acting upon the complaints.

He said: "The council is currently looking at other options and is in discussions with operators to try to find a solution for parents."