THERE has been a strong reaction to news that Diamond Buses has removed the monthly child ticket for children in the town.

THE Advertiser recently reported that furious parents blasted Diamond for the move, with many saying they were shocked and disgusted.

Diamond Buses removed the monthly child ticket for children in Redditch, saying it made the controversial decision due to "very high fraudulent use".

The bus operator said the decision was not taken lightly.

However, indignant parents called the move an "abomination" and one that is completely unfair, considering the service it provides is "substandard at best".

Commenting on the Advertiser Facebook page Amanda Millie Baldwin said: "My daughter uses Diamond to get to and from school, and yes the service is not the best and can be unreliable and frustrating but what are the other options?"

Tanith Moore said: "They have not only scrapped the monthly pass but also increased their prices on other tickets."

Alison Osborne said: "I’m really annoyed. My daughter now has an adult ticket because it works out cheaper than the way the kids are done but still more expensive than the child’s monthly. We are being ripped off."

Ilona Prewitt said: "It makes my son's travel expenses even more! Monthly passes are a bit cheaper than having to use weekly ones. It's already expensive enough for a service that's not great anyway!"

Selina Anslow said: "Absolute joke removing the child monthly pass. It won’t stop fraud from happening they will just do it to the weekly/day passes instead."

Samantha Warren said: "It means an extra £20.40 for us as a family for our son to travel to and from school. This is unfair on households that are already struggling."

A spokesman from Diamond said: "We have spent a lot of time reviewing this and we are continuing to do so - including the involvement of local schools and the police to try to curtail the issue.

"When we are happy we have the solution we will consider re-introducing the tickets."

They added: "Weekly and daily tickets are unaffected and still available for purchase via the normal platforms."

The bus operator recently announced a series of changes to its fares in the Worcestershire, West Midlands and Tamworth areas, which includes price rises for most tickets outside of the Diamond Network Zone.

The changes include a number of local price increases.

For a full breakdown of the fare changes, visit diamondbuses.com.