A WALKING bus clocked up its 100th journey on Monday and there was a party atmosphere onboard to celebrate the special occasion. The Newport Walking Bus started in October 2007 and quickly became an established method of transport to the primary school on

A WALKING bus clocked up its 100th journey on Monday and there was a party atmosphere onboard to celebrate the special occasion.

The Newport Walking Bus started in October 2007 and quickly became an established method of transport to the primary school on Frambury Lane.

The bus runs on Mondays and Thursdays, starting at Gaces Acre in the north of the village and making four stops to pick up children along its route. By the time the bus reaches school there are between 25 and 30 children onboard - nearly 20 per cent of the pupils - all supervised by parent and grandparent volunteers.

Headteacher Jane Detnon said: "Our bus even has a fan club! Two elderly ladies regularly wait to wave to us en-route and have even given sweets to celebrate our 100th walk.

"We have a walking bus mascot, a dog named Smiffy who has his own fluorescent jacket and belongs to a regular bus family."

The Newport Walking Bus was the 100th walking bus scheme to be set up in Essex.