A CWMBRAN bus firm may change its school run policy following an incident which left a female driver "exceptionally distraught".

A group of Llantarnam Comprehensive School pupils were made to get off the bus and walked three miles home in the rain after the driver alleged rowdy behaviour.

The driver took the remaining pupils back to the company's Cwmbran depot, where an inspector boarded the bus.

Mark Tunstall, Stagecoach's operations manager in Cwmbran, said the driver had first taken the Newport-bound bus back to the school.

"As I understand it, she operated within the guidelines, but maybe we might do things differently with a particular service where there is a known problem.

"This one does appear to be a problem and as a result, we have already had some considerable thoughts on how we may be able to alter the situation. The driver was exceptionally distraught and is off sick. She is unlikely to be driving that route again for a while."

Twelve-year-old Joanna Bunce, (pictured with her mother) of Laurel Crescent, Malpas, was one of the pupils and claimed she was not responsible for the trouble, but was left at the school with about eight of her friends.

Her mother Colette said: "It was pouring with rain. I'm really mad about this because normally I don't let her out of my sight.

"To think that she walked along a road like that, where there are lots of dangerous places. It is bad enough for an adult, let alone someone just turned twelve." Joanna, who is in Year 8, claimed the driver told everyone to get off and took their bus tickets from them.

"The driver said she was going to Cwmbran and stopping at the police station," she said. "I don't know why we were asked to get off. There were three or four about my age who walked but the others were older. We didn't do anything on the bus. I was just sitting there."

The reason why the ten pupils left the bus is now being investigated.

Llantarnam Comprehensive headteacher David Kitchen said: "I don't know anything about pupils walking home in the rain but if they did they must have done it because they chose to. Everyone who came back to the school was dealt with and I personally took a few pupils home.

"We have a provision for this sort of thing. The matter is being investigated and I'll ask pupils to write down what happened."