A CATHOLIC pupil faces a struggle to get to school after being refused a place on the school bus because her parents are Protestant.

Lauren Loan's parents have been left wondering how to get their daughter to and from their home in Perkinsville, near Pelton, to St Leonard's RC Comprehensive in Durham because she does not automatically qualify for a bus pass.

Although Lauren is a practising Catholic, her parents are not, so she does not meet the criteria.

Lauren, 11, attended one of the comprehensive's Catholic feeder schools, St Benet RC Primary in Ouston, after moving from another school where she was being bullied. Shortly after, she asked if she could become a Catholic, to which her mother Norma agreed. Although Norma is Church of England, she takes her daughter to mass each week.

But the local education authority stipulates that to qualify for free transport to church schools at least one parent must be of the same faith.

Norma said: "I don't think there's many children who are different religions from their parents, but the council classes her as non-Catholic, so she isn't eligible for this pass."

The only way of completing the eight mile journey by public transport is to catch two buses, which Norma does not want her to do on her own. Norma works shifts and cannot drive.

Sometimes Lauren's sister, Durham University student Katie Anne, takes her to school if her timetable coincides and at other times she has to wait at school until her father finishes work and can pick her up.

The family's only hope now is that Durham County Council will decide to grant a concessionary pass. They are expected to make a ruling by September 27.

A council spokesman said: "There has to be some point where somebody qualifies and somebody else doesn't. That's what the admissions criteria is based upon."