A dad claims his 11-year-old son was left crying in the rain after a bus driver left him in the cold when his pass wouldn't scan.

He claims the Arriva driver would not let the 11-year-old boy on the bus and he was instead forced to return to his Liverpool home in tears.

Will, from Speke, claims his son showed his bus pass, which expires in July 2020, but was told to leave the bus on both Monday and Tuesday mornings as it "would not scan".

The dad claimed the driver told his year 7 son to "go home to his parents" as high winds and rain battered the road, reports the Liverpool ECHO .

The boy, who Will asked not to be named, returned home in tears as his friends got on their bus to school

Arriva said the boy’s pass was damaged after it was chewed, and the company “do not accept defaced passes”.

Will said: "I would of thought most people would not have left an 11-year-old on his own in the pouring rain.

"I just cant believe they would turn away a child."

Chef Will said his son usually gets the 500 bus to St Peter and Paul's School, in Widnes, after being issued with a free school pupil pass that expires in 2020.

On Monday morning the boy's pass would not scan correctly on the bus, Will claimed, and he says he was told he must leave the bus, despite the expiration date being visible.

He said: "He came back home at about 8.10am crying his eyes out saying the bus driver told him 'get off the bus and go back to your parents'."

After calling Arriva on Monday, Will said the bus company "could not be more helpful" and told him the driver should not have done that as Arriva has a safeguarding policy not to leave school children alone.

He said: "I was going to go with him on Tuesday but I thought no, it will be ok. But the driver said 'I told you yesterday, go home' and would not let him on again.”

When calling up Arriva again, Will claimed he was told cards may not scan on buses if it is next to a phone or near bank cards, for example.

He said: "He's 11 years old, he hasn't got bank cards and he's not allowed to take his phone to school.

"It's not his fault, what is the point of having a card with dates on it if you can't use it?"

He claimed Arriva also told him the company has safeguarding in place to make sure a child is not left alone.

Information on Arriva's website said: “Children aged under 16 and those people who, in the reasonable opinion of the driver, are vulnerable, at risk or in distress, and are unable to pay their fare will be carried at all times.

“They may be asked to provide their name and address in order that the fare due could be collected at a later date. In these circumstances, the driver will issue a single ticket for one journey allowing the individual to travel to their home or the nearest stop thereto.”

Will said he and his partner, who works in retail, both need to leave the home before 8am to make it to work on time.

Their son's bus is at 8am and neither of them drive, he said, so if he could not get on the bus again he would be left stranded.

He said: "When I called them a second time they said they were surprised because they thought we would have given him money to get the bus the next morning.

"But we thought his pass would be fine."

He added: "I just think the whole thing is laughable. There should be no way a grown adult can chuck a child off a bus.

"The logic should not be to leave a child on their way to school alone."

Will said he wanted to make more parents aware of the bus pass issue.

An Arriva spokesperson said: "Arriva can confirm that we do not accept defaced passes. If a replacement pass is required and reported to us, we will arrange for a new pass to be issued."

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