ALMOST 100 Redditch school children were stranded for three hours at Bournville railway station in sweltering temperatures after train tracks buckled in the heat.

And their teacher, Sue Amor, of Birchensale Middle School, has criticised the way Central Trains responded to the emergency last Tuesday afternoon.

The 94 Year 6 students had enjoyed an end-of-term trip to Cadbury World, travelling on the train from Redditch railway station. Mrs Amor said they decided to travel by train to keep the overall costs down.

"The trip there was wonderful. The trip to Cadbury was wonderful," she said.

However, when they arrived at the railway station for the return journey, the party found out their train was delayed because the severe summer heat had buckled the rails.

"The people in the ticket office were singularly unhelpful. No buses were laid on and we were told it's not their problem," said Mrs Amor.

She said she requested water for the youngsters to help keep them cool in the heatwave and was given a bucket.

"We let the kids wet their hands and faces as it was obviously not fit to drink from!"

The day was saved after Mrs Amor managed to secure the loan of minibuses from some other Redditch schools, including the Abbey High. Forty of the students and three teachers were also able to catch the train and a few of the other children were collected by willing parents.

But the story does not end there because when the railbound children arrived at Longbridge, they were told they would have to have to disembark the train because the tracks had buckled again.

Mrs Amor said: "Luckily, the train driver was very sympathetic and called engineers and decided to take the train to Redditch so they arrived back at school about 5.15pm."

She added: "Will we ever use Central Trains again? Not likely."

But a Central Trains spokesman said: "The reason for the delay was that two trains had to be turned back because of the heat.

"The member of staff was on his own and looked after the party as best he could.

''He did give them cups for their water and at the end of the day these were exceptional circumstances."