After a great deal of pressure from local Shropshire Councillor Heather Kidd (Shropshire and Worthen Division) Severn Trent have agreed to supply a minibus to take school children around one of their road closures which begins today (February 18th) near the village of Priest Weston.

Heather said: "Severn Trent do not have a good reputation for dealing with the public in our part of the world. They brought this 5 week closure forward from June to February without much consultation with anybody and certainly without much thought to school buses.

This is a short length of closure at Middleton - between Rorrington and Priest Weston. It will stop traffic passing through and would have disrupted up to 13 children from getting to school.

"After a great deal of effort, I've managed to persuade Severn Trent to pay for a minibus service, once term resumes on 25th February. The normal 40 seater coach will now be replaced by 2 minibuses working around the closure to get all the young people to school.

"I would like to thank Amey, the contractor on this job for their help with this problem."

The situation now will be:

• Severn Trent will now fund a minibus to take the Community College students to Bishops Castle. Details will be given by the School/bus company - Worthen Travel.
• Primary school minibus is less effected and the driver will discuss details with the families affected.
• Access to properties will be maintained and direction will be advised.
• They hope to open the road overnight. After 6pm and before 8am.

Heather continued "Severn Trent have a long track record in this area of messing communities about - fail to deal with leaks until they get pretty serious. They ignore problems until things get worse and then suddenly close a road claiming its an 'emergency".

"Over the last year alone we have seen repeated closures on the Snailbeach and Stiperstones road at Plox Green with very little warning whilst a couple years ago they closed the road up to Rorrington Hill and went home for the weekend leaving many residents trapped.

"I know this occurs across the County. My colleague Cllr Roger Evans experienced a similar close in Annscroft recently whilst Cllr Jonny Keeley has been fighting a major battle for months to get a leak in Bishops Castle High Street fixed.

"These actions are beyond a joke and are seriously impacting on peoples lives. My colleagues and myself have had enough of this kind of behaviour and I will be seeking an urgent meeting with Severn Trents Operational Manager for this region. Not only is this type of behaviour causing residents a lot of problems but it can't be doing Severn Trent' public image much good either.

For more information contact Heather Kidd on 07887 931567