DOZENS of Clydeview Academy pupils living in Gourock are now no longer allowed on the school bus after the council changed the map for eligibility.

Up-in-arms parents living in Trumpethill streets such as St Andrews Drive and Gleneagles Drive have been told their children will have to find their own way from now on and walk 30-40 mins there and back again each day.

It follows changes to the way education bosses measured the routes - putting several addresses outside the two mile zone.

Now they have to walk to school while the bus drives past their doors every morning and afternoon.

But Inverclyde Council reject criticism of their controversial decision and insist they have made the school bus system fairer.

Nicola Christie lives in St Andrews Drive and her son Alex has just started first year.

She said: "It is frustrating when the bus passes your door every morning and children from other areas are walking to your street to go to the bus stop on St Andrews Drive to get picked up.

"We are now having to drop our kids off.

"I am not against kids walking to school - I just think 40 minutes is too long to get to school and then the same back again.

"It is okay in the nice weather but not when it is winter and it is dark.

"They can't even use the public transport bus because that would make them late for school."

Nicola and her husband are organising lifts and car shares but say this will become more difficult when they both go back to work.

Their daughter Hollie, aged nine, has just started primary six and they will face the same problem when she goes into secondary.

The children in the Trumpethill area are now expected to walk up to Moorfoot Drive, along and down Kirn Drive, up George Road, cross the very busy Larkfield Road and then onto Reservoir Road and along to Clydeview twice every day.

Carol Anderson, who lives in Gleneagles Drive, is facing problems trying to get son Sam, 12, to Clydeview.

She said: "I don't think it is an acceptable route. I would happily pay to get him on the bus but we are now allowed to do that.

"We live two miles from the school and it is a nonsense that we can't get on the bus.

"If it was still in the same place as the old Gourock High then I would have no problem with it.

"But we are left with no options.

"To me it would make sense to have more kids on buses, not less."

The families have contacted town councillors as they try to fight the changes.

Andrew MacPherson and his wife Fiona were told that their son Rory, who is pictured with his friends, can no longer go on the Clydeview bus after using it for the last two years.

They live in St Andrews Drive and will soon have another two children going to the secondary school, Katie, who is in primary seven, and youngest son Bobby, who is in P5.

Andrew, an engineer who works in Glasgow, said: "We moved to the area so that our kids could to Moorfoot Primary and Gourock High but then they changed the school and location.

"I don't think it is right they can change the measurements from Google Maps to an ordnance map and tell us we are now more than two miles away.

"Kids in Turnberry Avenue are nearer to the school but ironically they qualify for the bus because of the walking route.

"We now have to run our kids to school instead.

"The council say this is fairer, but to who?

"It is about cost-cutting, pure and simple.

"More parents are now running kids to school with increased traffic congestion and costs to the environment."

Inverclyde Council today defended the changes they have made.

A spokesperson said: “Free school transport for eligible pupils in Inverclyde remains more generous than what is legally required.

“We have not altered the distances and the council remains one of the most generous local authorities in Scotland by providing free transport for secondary pupils who live over two miles from their catchment school.

"The law states that we only need to provide transport for those who live over three miles.

“More accurate measurements of all routes means that some pupils who previously received free school transport are no longer eligible.

"The changes were agreed in September 2019 after a period of consultation and all parents who were affected were written to in February this year to give them time to make alternative arrangements.

“There is now a fairer system in place for all pupils.”