PARENTS in Benson and Cholsey who won an appeal over free bus travel are being warned they will have to fight their corner again.

Last year Oxfordshire County Council officers reassessed walking routes to Wallingford School from the two villages and deemed them safe for pedestrians.

The ruling meant that free travel would only be provided where the home-to-school distance was more than three miles, or there was no safe walking route if under three miles.

Parents contested the ruling on safety grounds and, after an appeal at the end of last year, the proposal to charge some parents £240 a year for their children’s school bus journeys was dropped.

Now, as part of a countywide consultation, they could have to face the proposal again as the county council proposes changes to the home-to-school transport policy.

Mum-of-two Pauline Preece, of Sunnyside, Benson, whose sons Sam, 16, and Nathan, 15, attend Wallingford School, said: “A few months ago we were told everything was okay and now we could face the same problem again in 2015.

“Parents have to go off to work and when children reach a certain age they want to have a certain amount of independence – and travelling to school on their own can be part of that.”

If families in the villages are unable to pay, pupils from Benson would be expected to cross the busy A4074, where the speed limit has been cut from 50mph to 40mph, while pupils from Cholsey would have to walk along Wallingford Road.

Nicola McBain, a care assistant from Sunnyside, Benson, whose son Aston attends Wallingford School, said: “The A4074 is not a safe road for children to cross.”

Cholsey district councillor Mark Gray said: “The anxiety from parents about this is palpable and they are crestfallen that they are going to have to fight their corner again.”

Wallingford School headteacher Wyll Willis said: “Clearly this is an attempt to save money by the county council and take away free bus travel from some parents.”

Referring to the Cholsey and Benson cases, county council spokesman Owen Morton said: “The appeal effectively overturned the judgement of the road safety assessments, which found the routes to be safe and appropriate. The proposal is to set up a review programme to reassess all walking routes designated as ‘unsafe’ over the next two years.”

He said in cases where school walking routes had recently been assessed, reassessment could be deferred until the end of the review period in 2015.