Anxious parents in Bath have slammed the council over its failure to address an overcrowding crisis on buses.

Parents of pupils at Ralph Allen School say their children are still being forced to travel to and from school in cramped conditions because there is not enough provision for pupils who commute.

This is despite Bath and North East Somerset Council launching a consultation to deal with the issue following an outcry when pupils as young as 11 were left stranded by packed buses last year.

Susie Wright and Sarah Exton from the Campaign for Better Home-School Transport have been involved in regular meetings with the council and First Bus to address the issue.

Mrs Exton said she was still hearing from parents that buses serving different areas of the city were so crowded pupils were being forced to sit in gangways and luggage racks.

She said: "I feel like the council have let us down.

"They committed to an authority-wide review, but it's been conducted online, which has excluded lots of families.

"For the main part of the consultation the public had to go through a laborious registration process which put many off, although this has recently been rectified. The questions they've used are odd and didn't actually encourage parents or pupils to make suggestions, although they have now added a feedback box to the form."

Ms Wright said she did not feel First was to blame as the council had plenty of opportunity to warn them about the number of pupils who would be using their buses for home-to-school transport this year.

She said: "The whole thing has been a mess."

Ralph Allen's deputy head teacher Steve Rose agreed the council could have done more to make the survey accessible, but he said they had made significant progress.

He praised First for trying to address the problem by putting on an extra bus and doubling the capacity of another, although the demand was still growing.

He said: "Although a lot has been done to try to address the overcrowding problem, the buses our pupils use are still very, very full. Many of the pupils are being forced to stand and although this is not illegal, it is not ideal.

"I know the council are very keen to ensure every child has a seat on a bus and I support them in that, but if you want people to use public transport instead of cars, the infrastructure has to be there."

The current consultation ends on Friday, November 14, and campaigners are urging people to get their views and suggestions in.

The council has now adapted the online survey so it can be printed out and completed by hand.

Jenny MacLeod, operations director for First Somerset and Avon said the provider had been liasing closely with Ralph Allen School to ensure all students were able to get to and from school on time and safely.

She said: "Key to resolving this issue is ensuring that the right students board the right buses. The school has been instrumental in talking to its students to ensure they understand the importance of this.

"We, and the school, continue to monitor the situation closely. The latest checks show that while the buses are busy, they are not overloaded."

A council spokesman said they had looked at Year 7 intake, but no significant changes in travel patterns had been identified.

He said: "Some parents got in contact with the council to make suggestions about how the consultation could be improved and some of these have been acted upon, such as reducing the online registration requirement and extending the deadline. A greater response has been received as a result."

The council said the letter sent to schools also suggested the questionnaires could be printed out for students and parents to complete and it had provided an electronic copy to those who had asked for it.

To comment, email scrutiny@bathnes.gov.uk.