CHILDREN will be forced to walk alongside the A34 to get to school after the route was deemed 'safe' and free bus travel scrapped.

Those from South Hinksey, near Oxford, have been told the footpath from their village to get to North Hinksey Primary School and Matthew Arnold in Cumnor Hill - two miles away - is a 'safe walking route' despite it previously being deemed 'unsafe'.

Parents have said it's a tragedy waiting to happen with the footpath less than a metre wide and only separated from speeding traffic by a verge that is about 50cm wide.

Tom Barron, who lives in the village with his two children and wife Phyllis, said: "I cannot believe that the county council thinks this footpath is safe for children to walk in all weathers, with cyclists using it and parents with buggies and pushchairs - we are all shocked and appalled.

"It gets dark so early in the winter months, which makes it even more dangerous.

"They are just inches away from being struck by a passing car, and we know a lot of drivers go faster than the speed limit."

The children will start their route in South Hinksey village, crossing a mini roundabout to get to the footpath, walking down it for about a mile, before coming out into North Hinksey village.

For the majority of the route the children will walk alongside traffic travelling at 70mph, which changes to 50mph for just under half a kilometre as they come into North Hinksey.

Currently pupils in the village are granted a free pass for the bus service which takes them to their catchment schools, North Hinksey Primary School and Matthew Arnold School.

The buses were subsidised by Oxfordshire County Council but officers have re-assessed the footpath and found it to be safe, meaning it no longer has a statutory obligation to fund free transport.

Mr Barron, 43, added: "A lot of us in the village are working parents, we rely on the bus services to take our children safely to school.

"Now we are going to have to find a way of making sure there are a few of us that can walk with them, to keep them safe.

"It is just ridiculous and very worrying when you see how fast people can go down the A34.

"The county has blatantly put saving money before safety."

Without the county council subsidising the service, parents would have to fork out £1,000 per child for every year they used the bus.

Mr Barron added: "No one has that kind of money.

"Most of us have at least two children so you are looking at at least £2,000 every year for a family."

Mum-of-four Polly Blay said she would not 'in a million years' walk the route herself, let alone allow her children tackle it twice a day.

The 47-year-old said: "I absolutely do not have a problem in walking or cycling to school however the council cannot expect the families from South Hinksey village to use the path they are now recommending as safe.

"I cannot believe that an unprotected path that runs alongside the A34, about a metre away from traffic travelling at 70mph, has now been assessed as safe by an Oxfordshire County Council assessor and we are appealing this decision."

In October parents in Wootton spoke of fears for their children’s safety after they were told to walk to school along unlit paths, a field and a road with ‘limited visibility’ for pedestrians.

Oxfordshire County council told 16 families their free bus provision to The Marlborough CE School in Woodstock would be withdrawn because a safe walking route had been found.

Owen Morton, a spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council, said all families affected had been written to and were provided with information about how to appeal the decision.

He added: "Free home to school transport was provided for students living in South Hinksey and attending either Matthew Arnold School or North Hinksey CE Primary School, as the nearest secondary and primary schools.

"This was based on an understanding that there was no safe walking route between South and North Hinksey.

"Like all councils, Oxfordshire County Council periodically reviews school walking routes, applying nationally recognised Road Safety GB Guidance.

"Using this national guidance, a walking route has been found to be safe and within the statutory walking distance, and under these circumstances the council cannot continue to provide free transport in accordance with its own countywide policy."

The first of three appeal dates for the decision will be on Monday, June 19.