An apology has been issued to dozens of school pupils left stranded in torrential rain when their school bus left without them.
Banff Academy students were left to find their own way to school on the first day of term on Tuesday when buses were too overcrowded to pick up any more passengers.
The school has admitted the fiasco was “unacceptable”.
A statement released by the school said it apologised for the lack of capacity on the route through Barnhill Road – two-and-a-half miles away from the secondary.
It added: “Banff Academy was given assurances this afternoon that there would be enough capacity on the Barnhill route to get everyone home. Obviously this was not the case,” it added.
“As with anything new there will be teething troubles, but please rest assured, the school is doing everything in its power to rectify this situation and we thank you for your patience.”
Ewan Wallace, the council’s head of transportation, apologised to those caught in the rain.
“There was insufficient capacity on the school bus that ran from Macduff to Banff Academy yesterday and I apologise for the disruption this caused for Banff Academy pupils and staff,” he said.
“An additional bus will now be running on both the Macduff and Whitehills routes while a review is carried out into demand for these services.”
The authority currently provides free transport to all children who live over two miles walking distance from a primary school and three miles from secondary schools.
Free school transport is also provided for children with additional support needs.
Yesterday, pupils using the Barnhill route were reminded that the school bus leaves promptly at 8.20am.