A BUS service that takes some of the least affluent children in East Dorset to school is under threat.

The 844 school service, which serves the Heatherlands estate in Ferndown, may stop running after a proposal by Dorset County Council to remove the subsidy paid to maintain it.

If the decision is made to cut the funding, the bus company will need to decide whether the service can continue.

Heatherlands is inside the three-mile radius that allows children free school transport, and the service is discretionary.

Ferndown deputy mayor and chairman of the environment committee, Cllr Steve Lugg, said the idea of cutting the service was “frankly wrong”.

“It’s unbelievable that this is being considered,” he said.

“Many of those living in this community are really upset by the idea. We need to be a bit intelligent when it comes to making these decisions, and this is one of the least intelligent things I can think of. It is morally wrong to take this service away from these families.”

The estate is one of the most deprived areas in East Dorset.

“It is making the poorest pay – and is not acceptable. Using the shield of the three-mile rule won’t work,” said Cllr Lugg. Despite the despair and anger of the vast majority of Ferndown residents, the county council has failed to take HGVs off Ringwood Road in the town, and is now expecting schoolchildren to use that dangerous road.”

Council leader Cllr Spencer Flower has written to all parish, town, district and borough councils seeking comments.

The council’s cabinet will meet to discuss the bus service on October 2.