Staff from Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire County Council, Northampton Borough Council, Corby Borough Council and the Vehicle Operating Standards Agency worked in partnership to carry out safety checks on vehicles used to transport children to school at Billing Brook School in Northampton and Corby Business Academy.

Taxis, minibuses and coaches were checked along with driving documents. A verbal warning was given to one driver whose vehicle had a loose seat back and a prohibition given for another having loose wheel nuts and a seized emergency exit.

Four verbal warnings were issued to drivers whose vehicles had lighting defects and four vehicles were taken off the road for defective tyres.
The checks on March 1 and 3 were part of a national campaign, Operation Coachman, and further ones are planned later in the year.

Sergeant Jon Hodgson said: "It is disappointing that drivers with the responsibility for transporting children do not spend time checking their vehicles before use. All of these matters would have been identified with a check before setting off.