An 11-year-old pupil was left "in a meltdown" on the side of the road after being kicked off her school bus.

The Year 7 pupil, who lives with anxiety, was abandoned by the driver on her way to The Romsey School on Tuesday.

The driver bemoaned the "sheer volume of traffic" caused by a lorry crashing into a railway bridge, and told all pupils on the 513 service to leave the bus in Romsey town centre.

The girl's mum has said she is "disgusted" by the actions of the driver, and called for him to be sacked.

Kura, the bus company, has apologised and said that the driver involved has received extra safeguarding training.

READ MORE: Neighbours' frustration at second bridge strike in months in Romsey

The mum, who wished not to be named, said her daughter, who has only been at The Romsey School for three weeks, asked to stay on the bus as she did not know the way, a request refused by the driver.

The lorry strike, at Greatbridge Road, resulted in severe delays through Romsey on Tuesday morning (Image: Newsquest)

The girl managed to get to school only after bumping into her friend by chance, who called her parents.

The mother told the Echo: “The school and the bus service they are linked with, should have a safeguarding duty to the pupils – not abandon them in the street.

"My daughter was completely helpless and had no way of knowing how to get to school – that just is not good enough.

“It's my view that the driver should be sacked and The Romsey School should find a new bus company.

"She has been completely scarred by the incident and doesn’t want to get the bus to school again for fear she will be left in the street."

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Kura said it "fully acknowledges" concerns raised, which "were not in line with the standards we expect".

A Kura spokesperson said: “Kura, our coach partner, and the driver wish to express our sincere apologies for any distress caused by this incident.

“Safety is our number one priority and we are committed to ensuring that all students feel supported on their journey to school.

“We will continue to work closely with The Romsey School and our coach operator partners to prevent such issues from recurring in the future.”

The company added the driver involved has received additional safeguarding training, refresher training will be conducted for all coach drivers, and they have contacted parents to address any concerns.

A spokesperson for the school said: “We were made aware that an external bus company transporting its pupils had dropped them in Romsey town centre, rather than delivering them safely to school yesterday morning.

“The school was able to action an appropriate and swift response plan which included contacting parents/carers and ensuring that all pupils using that service were accounted for in school.”