Readers have reacted to a change in bus service for Mayfield School’s students with special educational needs.

Sharon Uhrig said: “It’s so hard, especially when these kids get used to the staff on the buses.

“And they know and understand the kids well. It’s just unsettling for the kids and obviously the extra worry as a parent.”

Selena Helen Bates said: “Oh no! My daughter loves her escorts and really trusts them, which for a child with ASD is a big deal.”

Jenna Green said: “My son goes to Cockermouth on an SEN bus and he came home in floods of tears because he is going to miss them.”

A spokesperson for Cumbria County Council said: “Legislation requires us to put contracts back out to the market in order to demonstrate value for money for the taxpayer.

“Tender contracts are put out for up to four years at a time to ensure passengers get a fair degree of continuity from one company, however we cannot guarantee routes will have the same driver each year, as personnel within each provider changes regularly.”

A petition has been launched on Change.org hitting out at Cumbria County Council, which runs the SEN services in the county, and by Saturday it had already received 250 signatures.

Organiser Josephine Stabler said: “I found out because I was tipped off by someone who didn’t feel comfortable that people had been left in the dark.

“I have found on parent who received a letter to say it had gone out to tender in October.”

She said that her son, Rory McGlennon, who has complex needs will be upset by the change in routine.

Josephine said: “He wouldn’t even get on the bus. There’s other parents that have stated they don’t think their child is going to get on the bus.”