A BUS journey that should only have taken a matter of minutes turned into a four-hour marathon for a 12-year-old Pontllanfraith boy after he missed his stop.

When Luke Williams took the 151 Glyn Williams Travel bus service from Blackwood town centre last Saturday afternoon as part of a short journey to a bus stop near his home in Cwmalsie Crescent, he had no idea that he would eventually end up stranded in Cwmbran - after mistaking it for Cwmcarn.

Luke was so engrossed in playing his Gameboy that he missed his stop and only realised his mistake some 20 stops later, halfway through the 50-minute journey to Newport central bus station, when his bus reached Cwmcarn.

His father, Ray, is furious with Glyn Williams: "When Luke explained to the bus driver what had happened and that he didn't have any money for the fare back home, the driver replied, 'Well that's not my fault,' and left him in Newport.

"When Luke phoned home on his mobile unfortunately I was in the garden and didn't have my mobile with me."

Then when Luke called the land-line the credits on his mobile phone ran out. Luke decided he would try to walk home, but he went the wrong way.

"In trying to follow the signs home, he mistook Cwmbran for Cwmcarn," Mr Williams said. Some three hours later Luke realised something was wrong.

"He began to become very distraught and was crying, he was frantic. "It was fortunate that he came upon a kind gentleman from Old Cwmbran, who took Luke home, called for me to come and get him and made him a cup of tea and a sandwich." His father said he hadn't noticed Luke was missing because he usually didn't come home on a Saturday until around 6.30pm.

He said: "I am very angry with the way he was treated by the bus company. "They could have called for a policeman to come and deal with it. Luke could be lying in a ditch somewhere now. Anything could have happened to him.

"It would be nice to have an apology from them, and I believe it should be their policy in the future not to abandon children in this position."

But Ian Macdonald, community manager at Pontllanfraith-based company Glyn Williams, said: "I have little sympathy with the man." He said it was not up to the bus company to assume parental responsibility for Mr Williams' son.

Mr Macdonald said: "We get to hear some wild and wonderful stories from some passengers and we are inclined to be very sceptical.

"I thought somebody was pulling my leg when I heard about this. We have had instances where blind and disabled people have missed their stops and we pull out all the stops to help them.

"On average, 6,000 people a day use our service, including 300 schoolchildren, and they all know where to get on and off the bus."