PARENTS will have to pay more to get their children to school in a shake-up of school bus services.

And school bus routes will be scrapped altogether as part of Surrey County Council's cost-saving plans.

On Tuesday members of the council's cabinet decided to put the brakes on 21 "School Special" bus services across Surrey from September 2011, and agreed to put fares up to £2.50 return per pupil per day, from an average of £1.63.

Speaking after the County Hall meeting member for transport Ian Lake told the Mirror: "We're not happy about making the decision and we sympathise greatly with parents."

Among the services to be cut are the 677, which takes students from Charlwood, Horley and Salfords to Reigate School and Reigate College, the 660 which goes through Whitebushes and Salfords to Oakwood School, and the 810 which transports Lingfield Primary School pupils from Dormansland, Felcourt, Blindley Heath and Plantation.

The 670, which takes pupils living in Walton on the Hill, Tadworth, Lower Kingswood and Reigate to Ashcombe School in Dorking will also stop running.

The cuts to 31 of the 56 routes running across Surrey, are expected to save the council up to £827,800 per year.

All services will continue in their present state, and with their current fares, until September 2011.

At the meeting Cllr Lake said: "All the statutorily entitled children will still be taken to school by the council.

"We have 2,829 children who use the school specials but only about a quarter of those are entitled."

Entitled pupils will continue to be transported to school by the "most economic means", but the 129 non-entitled pupils in East Surrey who use these routes will have to find alternative ways to get to school.

School Specials cost £2,110,555 in 2009/10 and are expensive to support because they cannot be used in the middle of the day.

The 649 to St Bede's School, 866 to Beacon School, the 310 and 393 to Oxted School, and the 694 to Oxted School and St Mary's in Oxted will all be kept as more than 50 per cent of the pupils who use them are entitled.

These would be run in the future as "closed" coaches, just for entitled children, although spare seats would be sold to other parents on a first come, first served basis.

Routes 657 to East Surrey College and Reigate College, 609 to Oxted School and 658 to Reigate School will all continue to run as will the 669 which takes children from Walton on the Hill, Tadworth, Lower Kingswood and Reigate to the Priory School in Dorking, the 518 and 519 to St Andrew's School in Leatherhead via Banstead and Tattenham Corner, or Lower Kingswood, Tadworth and Tattenham Corner and the 676 from Walton on the Hill, Tadworth, and Tattenham Corner to Therfield School in Leatherhead.

But non-entitled children will face a fee increase to £2.50 for a return, rising from as little as £1 in some areas of Surrey.

The council will not be introducing any kind of "sibling discount" for larger families.

Cllr Lake said: "The average cost at the moment is about £1.63 for a return journey but that journey costs the council £5.

"£2.50 is a balance, we're looking at an increase of about 60p, that's the cost of a Mars bar."

At a meeting of the council's Transportation Select Committee on Friday, it was revealed that three un-named schools in Surrey are investigating laying on their own bus services.

Cllr Lake said the council will do all it could to support these schools, short of managing the service.

A review into transport to denominational schools will begin in September.