"SCORES of children" will struggle to get to school if a bus route is permanently axed.

Ynys Môn MP Virginia Crosbie has written to Arriva asking it to reverse a decision to cancel the 62A bus service.

Families in Benllech and Moelfre have contacted Ms Crosbie to say the service is "critical" for them to ensure their children can go to Ysgol David Hughes in Menai Bridge.

The MP told the head of commercial for Arriva in Wales Adam Marshall that the alternative 62 service was already near capacity at the times the children would need to use it.

“It will therefore not have the capacity to accommodate them – leaving around 50 children unable to attend school,” she told him.

“Due to catchment areas, I am told that these young people would not qualify for local authority school transport, which leaves parents with two choices: to drive their children to Ysgol David Hughes – for many this is simply not possible - or to move their children to a different secondary school, interrupting their continuity of education and established social networks, with all the damage that could create in their young lives.”

She added: “I would appreciate your urgent attention to this matter and ask that you review your proposal.

“I am happy to work with Arriva, the affected families and the local authority to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”

Arriva is axing services due to changes in support for buses by the Welsh Government post-covid. But Ms Crosbie asked the Welsh Government to increase funding for bus services on the island during a regular meeting about repair work on the Menai Suspension Bridge this week.

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"Buses, like the 62A are being withdrawn due to Welsh Government funding cuts and are being impacted by the 20mph limit," she said.

"Bus timetables on Anglesey have already been badly impacted by the closure of the Menai Suspension Bridge to vehicles over 7.5 tonnes and significant time has had to be added to journey times because buses need to use the Britannia Bridge instead."

A spokesperson for Arriva Wales said: “Following changes to the way the bus services were support by the Welsh government after Covid, route 62a was part of the revisions we needed to make to our network and it was withdrawn.

“Schoolchildren are still able to travel on the 62/62c services and Arriva is accepting Ynys Mon passes issued to eligible pupils.

“Withdrawing any service is always a last resort for us, and we have worked with local authorities to try and minimise the effects of the government funding changes.

“We are a commercial bus operator and we cannot run a service without the additional funding we need to ensure we can cover the costs of running the services.”