A bus company has defended an increase in fares for a Nidderdale school service after the cost rose to nearly £1,000 a year.

The price of a bus from Ripon to Nidderdale High School jumped from £600 to £950 for the forthcoming school year starting in September.

The figure amounts to a 58% increase in price compared with the previous academic year.

Procters Coaches, which runs the bus, said diesel costs, wages and insurance meant the cost had to be passed on.

Jennie Eyres, who lives in Ripon, has a daughter heading to the school this September.

She said that she was “astonished” to find the hike in cost when she was looking to send her child to Nidderdale.

Ms Eyres said:

“As a parent with a child intending to start at Nidderdale in September, travelling from Ripon, I was astonished to find out how expensive the bus was, and even more so to find out the huge hike in price that has happened since the previous academic year.

“We are all very aware of costs going up all around us at the moment, and to an extent we do understand. However this is much more than the 10,15 or even 20% rise that could potentially be expected.”

Ms Eyres said diesel prices had actually gone down since the middle of last summer, and should not be cited as a reason for the fare increase, adding:

“The cost of insurance has increased by 20% and wages approximately 10% – neither of these are figures that back up the increase of almost 60%.”

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Nidderdale High, which has 401 pupils on its roll, said it had subsidised the cost that had been passed on as part of the bus contract.

Kath Jordan, headteacher at the school, pointed out that governors had taken the decision to subsidise the cost “very significantly” despite the hike.

She added that officials at Nidderdale were mindful of the cost of living when setting prices for parents.

She said:

“The governing body were very mindful of cost of living pressures this year when making the difficult decision to increase the cost of bus passes and have increased the level of subsidy paid by the school to keep the cost to parents as low as possible, whilst also trying to balance this against the increased cost pressures on the overall school budget.

“The Ripon bus service is used entirely by families who live outside the school’s catchment area and therefore are not entitled to free transport to school provided by the local authority. There isn’t a public bus service available for families to use. Families who choose Nidderdale High School and live out of catchment are responsible for transport to school.

“We are delighted that so many families from beyond our immediate catchment area have recognised the high quality of education and care for the individual that we offer at Nidderdale High School and have made the positive choice to be part of our school community.”

Kevin Procter, managing director at Procters Coaches, said his company had to handle the cost of inflation like other businesses.

Mr Procter, who has run the school bus for six years, said he sympathised with parents but had to make the service cost-effective.

He said:

“Things go up in price and do not go down, unfortunately.”