Larger families in Kent offered free school bus passes

The Young Persons' Travel Pass will go up by £50 from September

Families with more than two siblings at secondary school are to get additional bus passes for free, Kent County Council (KCC) has announced.

The authority said it would provide a Young Persons' Travel Pass, which is to cost £250 from September, for any third and fourth child free of charge.

The offer was unveiled after parents vowed to fight KCC over the planned 25% increased cost of the pass for 2015-16.

KCC said the scheme was still the "most generous" of its kind outside London.

The pass will also be frozen at £100 for some families on low incomes.

'Significant saving'

"This is a very generous scheme provided to support parents and carers of children going to secondary school," said Conservative Matthew Balfour.

"In order to help parents who have more than two children attending secondary school, we will provide additional passes free for a third or fourth child - that is at no extra cost to the parents.

"This represents a significant saving for those families concerned."

The travel pass gives unlimited access to Kent's buses for 11 to 16 year-olds on weekdays between 06:00 and 19:00 from the start of the academic year until 31 July.

It will increase from £200 to £250 in September - a year after the price doubled from £100.