A MUM who feared for the safety of her disabled daughter after the council threatened to change her school minibus service can now send her back to lessons after winning a battle to keep her on it.

Poppy, eight, who has cerebral palsy, is non-verbal and also suffers from epilepsy, has had the same minibus driver and escort to get to Brimble Hill School for the last four years.

 Before the start of term her mum Joanna was told Poppy would have to go on a different bus, without the same familiar staff capable of recognising the warning signs in her health.

 Council officials refused Joanna’s request to change it back, so she took it up with MP Robert Buckland and head of children’s services to convince them of the risk it posed to Poppy’s wellbeing.

Joanna of Wroughton told the Adver: “It was Poppy’s safety at the end of the day, she can’t regulate her body temperature, could have fit, or she might be in pain.

“The staff can tell Poppy is in discomfort by coughing and the way she rolls her eyes.

“You’re trusting your child who can’t communicate to somebody else.”

SEND pupils with complex needs usually require a formal handover with a change of staff but Joanna said this didn’t take place.

 After telling her there was no space on the bus for the wheelchair, the council finally agreed to allow Poppy back onto it.

“Her safety was being compromised,” Joanna added. “Her social worker also said don’t send her in.”

Poppy missed important speech and language and physio lessons in the first week back at school because of the row.

“It’s their attitude of not caring,” said Joanna, who said she has also had to fight the council to install a heater on the bus during the cold snap in March.

“The council’s attitude was that it wasn’t an essential requirement to have a heater on a bus, these children that can’t speak up for themselves, they are being treated as second class citizens.

“They prefer to compromise that and not listen to the parents, until the last minute. It’s a relief knowing that Poppy is going to be safe.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “Every year we plan the routes required for getting our SEND pupils to school based on all student transport requirements.

“This is to ensure we can continue to offer an efficient service to everyone who is eligible for it.

“In this instance, the pupil in question will still be taken to and from school every day, and an appropriately trained passenger assistant will be on board the bus.

“We are pleased we have managed to reach a solution which everyone is happy with.”