A Joyden’s Wood mother has branded as "ridiculous" plans to double the cost of getting her two sons to school.

Alison Kinnaird, 45, is unhappy at Kent county councillors for backing plans to raise the price of the annual Freedom Pass from £100 to £200.

Come September the medical secretary will have to shell out £400 to get her sons David, 14, and Josh, 11, to and from Dartford Grammar School on the bus.

Mrs Kinnaird, who lives in Chestnut Grove, told News Shopper: "It was 50 quid when David first started.

"He has Asperger’s so he won’t he using the pass to go anywhere else other than school.

"The fact they keep putting it up year-on-year is just ridiculous.

"When you think everything else is going up an extra £100 is a lot of money for a lot of people to find.

"It’s a bit of a bugbear for me."

Mrs Kinnaird says she would take her two boys to school herself but is unable to as she starts work at 7.30am.

The mother-of-two said: "I can’t take them to school because I work otherwise I wouldn’t pay 400 quid a year, I would do it myself.

"I think there are a lot of people in the same boat who feel quite aggrieved the prices are going up so much."

Kent County Council’s environment and scrutiny committee recommended the rise to cabinet member for environment, highways and waste Councillor David Brazier, who will now make the final decision.

Coun Brazier said: "The £200 annual travel pass represents excellent value for money and could allow parents to save hundreds of pounds a year on the costs involved in transporting their child to school.

"We have worked hard to meet parents’ needs by focusing the limited budget we have on providing bus travel to and from school for their children.

"It must be borne in mind that this is a discretionary service that we do not have to provide."

The Freedom Pass will be renamed the Young Person's Travel Pass and will allow 11-16 year-olds to get to and from school by bus any time from six in the morning to seven in the evening during term time.

Plans have been approved to reduce the cost of an annual travel card for students aged 16 and over from £520 to £400.