Parents have been left in the lurch after a school bus provider announced it is to cancel a service from the end of the month.

Company 1st Bus Stop has axed the 497 – which runs between Dartford and Gravesend and serves Northfleet Technology College, Northfleet School for Girls and Saint George’s Church of England School – after announcing it was making a loss of £125 a day.

The operator told parents they would need 60 children a day to make it financially viable. Between 20 and 30 pupils currently catch the bus from Dartford and Greenhithe.

The move means pupils now face an extra hour of travel every day as they will either have to catch an additional bus or walk a mile.

Parents do not know who to turn to, with the bus company directing queries to Kent County Council’s transport planner Nick Smyth but the authority saying it has no responsibility for the service.

Genene Copley, whose 12-year-old son Samuel goes to Saint George’s, was one of dozens of parents to receive a letter last month announcing the decision.

She says KCC should have a duty of care as all parents have already paid the £280 for an annual Freedom Pass. She has since written to the authority on behalf of all those affected asking why parents were not consulted or offered the opportunity to subsidise the service.

The Watling Street, Dartford, resident said: “We feel like we’re just numbers and have been dumped by KCC. Now they face an extra hour of travel time a day. Some of them are doing exams and one is a young carer, and any additional stress really isn’t needed. At a time when we’re meant to be cutting pollution this could lead to an additional 30 cars on the roads.”

Despite 1st Bus Stop directing all queries to KCC, spokesman Thom Morris said: “The 497 bus service is provided by 1st Bus Stop on a commercial basis and the decisions to make these changes is theirs and not KCC’s.

"KCC has not stepped in to replace the service as there are other commercial bus services which cater for most of the students’ needs, albeit they have a walk to school in Gravesend.”