A COACH company which pulled out of a school run has revealed its drivers were terrorised by pupils.

As reported in The Northern Echo earlier this week, J&C Coaches, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, pulled out of the route between Aycliffe Village and Woodham Comprehensive School, in Newton Aycliffe, at the end of last term.

Parents have since complained that only one of the replacement buses on the route has seatbelts.

Now, one of the owners of J&C Coaches has revealed his company pulled out of the contract because of the unruly behaviour of some pupils from the school.

Neville Jones said: "It is a joke that parents are complaining about children not having seatbelts - when we did the run they never wore them.

"They caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage and verbally and physically assaulted our drivers.

"The final straw was when I was faced with a bill for thousands of pounds to re-cover all the seats when I knew they would be damaged again."

Mr Jones said his company decided to stop the school run because the same coaches are often used by the general public and were starting to look unacceptable, although he still covers two other schools in County Durham.

He said staff at Woodham Comprehensive and Durham County Council had tried to find solutions to the pupils' behaviour, but nothing had worked.

He said: "I do not have a problem with the school or the council, only with the children and their parents, who are now complaining about an unsafe bus when it was them who made my vehicles unsafe."

A spokesman for Durham County Council confirmed it had worked with the school and the bus company to try to solve the pupils' behaviour.

He said: "While the behaviour of the vast majority of pupils is good, the conduct of a small percentage gives cause for concern.

"Sadly, the provision of seatbelts for pupils on school transport does not always lead to them being used.

"We appeal to all parents to emphasise to their children the importance of using seatbelts where they are provided, and indeed the importance of good behaviour on school transport."