PARENTS will be forced to fork out almost £500 in bus fares for their child to go to their first-choice high school.

New school bus pass rules will mean youngsters living in East Lancashire will only be provided with a free ticket to their nearest secondary - and only if they live more than three miles from it.

MORE TOP STORIES:

This will see many parents told their nearest school, with free transport, is actually in a neighbouring authority.

It comes as parents and prospective pupils go to open days to help them decide where they would like to go.

Mother-of-two Catherine Cutler, whose children go to St Leonard’s CE Primary School in Langho, said she couldn’t believe the changes which will see her 11-year-old go to Pleckgate in Blackburn instead of her preferred choice of Ribblesdale High in Clitheroe.

The 34-year-old from Old Langho said: “When I first bought a house in the Ribble Valley when I was 20 I did so with the schools in mind.

“The area has an excellent reputation for its education but some children are facing the prospect of having to go to schools outside the borough like Pleckgate in Blackburn.”

“It’s such a lot of money for the council to expect families to pay.”

Lancashire County Council bosses said they had been spending more than what they were legally obliged to on school travel but, due to massive funding cuts, decided they had to make reductions.

It means that from September 2015 parents will be saddled with a £475 bill for each child, every year, for them to attend a school further away.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is also planning to reduce subsidised transport for pupils to the legal minimum they need to provide.

Ribble Valley councillor Ged Mirfin said: “This is a huge amount to expect parents to pay to send their children to school.

“It’s a very unwelcome development among parents and I hope that we can get to the bottom of this and sort it out.

“There is an assumption that parents can afford this kind of thing but it will be a huge strain on people on middling incomes.

“The whole thing is utterly ridiculous and it needs to be changed.”

County Coun Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said free transport would still be provided for low-income families and the new rules would only affect children in mainstream schools.

He said: “Because of the significant savings the county council must make, £300million by 2017, we've had to carefully examine all areas of expenditure, including school transport.

“In the past we've provided a good deal of discretionary free transport for pupils, on top of the transport we're legally obliged to offer.

"We can no longer afford to do this, so from September 2015, travel expenses for pupils starting secondary school will only be paid if a pupil attends their nearest school and lives more than three miles from it, even if it is be in a neighbouring authority.

“Those on low income will continue to be supported with free transport.”

Pendle councillor Eileen Ansar said: “I think that it’s terrible and they are taking away the choice of a family to send their children to the school of their choosing.”