A BUS company launched an investigation after two Gwent schoolgirls fell from a bus into a main road on their way home from school.

Pupils Chloe Morris and Jodie Jeremiah, both 11, suffered cuts and bruises after they fell through the open doors of a Stagecoach bus taking them home from West Monmouth Comprehensive School, Pontypool.

Although the two girls escaped serious injury, they were so shaken by the incident they said they will never get on a bus again.

The accident happened on Tuesday afternoon in New Inn - only a day after the inquest into the death of schoolboy Stuart Cunningham Jones brought school bus safety back into the spotlight.

The girls told their parents that the bus doors were opened just before it was due to halt at a stop in Festival Crescent, New Inn.

They say other pupils on the bus suddenly surged forward and they were pushed from the bus, falling into the road.

Chloe's mother, hairdresser Anya Webb, of Little Mill, said: "I was horrified when Chloe told me what had happened. It frightened me to death because one of them could have easily fallen under the wheels.

"It is especially worrying after the inquest this week and worries over school bus safety. I am going to have to finish work early to pick Chloe up now, because she doesn't want to get on a bus again."

Jodie's mother, Helen Jeremiah, said: "I am absolutely disgusted. Jodie is very upset and doesn't want to go to school any more. Her shirt was ripped and her ankle was badly swollen. This could have been so much worse."

West Monmouth School has launched an investigation of its own into the incident.

Pat Harris, of Newport- based Belt Up School Kids, said: "We cannot comment on individual cases, but this again highlights the fact that there is an urgent need for more discipline on school transport."