Two MPs are backing villagers in their fight to keep free bus travel for children attending Wallingford School.

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey has visited Cholsey to talk to villagers about the county council’s decision to remove free bus travel for some families.

And Henley MP John Howell has backed parents from Benson, which is in his constituency.

County council officers have reassessed walking routes to the school from the two villages and have deemed them safe for pedestrians.

The decision means pupils from Benson are expected to cross the A4074 – where the speed limit has been cut from 50mph to 40mph – while pupils from Cholsey would have to walk along Wallingford Road.

Some parents are appealing against the assessment rulings. Families living in Drayton, whose children attend John Mason School in Abingdon won an appeal on the same issue last month.

After meeting parents and pupils in Cholsey on July 6, Mr Vaizey said: “There is no way it can be described as safe, in my opinion. Cars speed past at 60 mph, the footpath is incredibly narrow, it only takes one stray moment of inattention and there could be a serious accident. The county council has to look at this again.”

Mr Howell said parents found it “unbelievable” that a section of the A4074 had been assessed as safe for pupils to walk along. He added: “I cannot believe that such as assessment has taken into account the impact of bad weather, or the impact of the seasons, which would enforce a walk in darkness over many weeks in the winter.”

The families are being asked to pay £240 each a year for bus travel to Wallingford School.

Headteacher Wyll Willis said: “I’m encouraging individual families to appeal.”

A county council spokesman said in June: “There has been no change in terms of the criteria for eligibility for free transport. However, some children who travel in from Cholsey and Benson previously received free bus transport on the grounds that the walking routes to the school were not deemed adequate.

“These have recently been re-evaluated, using new national guidelines, as safe and appropriate. That means we can no longer justify providing free travel.”