A BUS service that has been turning children away from a school bus says it cannot afford to put on an extra vehicle.

First in the Midlands, formerly First Midland Red, made headlines in the Evening News at the beginning of October when it was reported children were being forced to make their own way home from Worcester's Nunnery Wood High School.

The complaint came from Janet Long, who said her daughter Natalie had been "thrown off" the S49 bus to St Peter's because it was overcrowded.

Ms Long, of Celandine Drive, St Peter's, said Year 10 and 11 youngsters were being refused entry on to the bus, which ran from the school at 3.25pm.

But Austin Birks, spokesman for First, who was unavailable for comment at the time of the article, said First was liaising with Worcestershire County Council to look at current services.

"There's a comprehensive review taking place on school and commercial bus services," he said.

"We are looking at some of these bus services because they are losing money."

Mr Birks said the problem with the S49 was that more children than anticipated had used the service.

"The thing that tends to happen is, if we do put extra bus services on, the number of children using the service dips, as they end up in after school activities, " he said.

"We never know from one year to the next who will be using the services.

"The problem is, if we get another bus out we make more of a loss."

Peter Roberts, network co-ordinator for Worcestershire County Council, said the S49 bus was a commercial service that was not subsidised by the city council.

"We need to look at not just one service or contract but the whole lot countywide," he said.

"If First is losing money the county council has to decide if it can come in and subsidise First or someone else."