The toughest school run in Britain? Mum told to walk daughter, nine, three miles through the mud

A mother and her nine-year-old daughter are facing what may be Britain’s toughest school run after their petrol subsidy was removed.

Julie Hewitt and her daughter Connie, who is asthmatic, now have to trudge three miles along a muddy footpath.

The mum, 39, can no long afford to drive her daughter to school after a council cut their petrol money.

Previously, they were entitled to the subsidy because they live more than three miles away.

But now, a penny-pinching council is arguing there is a shorter cross-country route measuring 2.7 miles to St Wenn primary near Bodmin, Cornwall.

Hewitt appealed against the decision by filming the mud-clogged “short cut”, which runs past a dairy farm and along overgrown lanes.

She said it has just four street lights and is too dangerous and challenging for her daughter.

Julie, a mum-of-four who works full-time running her own family farm, posted her video of the walk on Facebook in a bid to change the council’s mind.

For past 10 years, she has received £3.50 per day to drive her children to the primary school.

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She said: “In the summer Cornwall Council wrote to say that the small contribution we claim for fuel allowance to take Connie to school will stop.

“From now on over eight year olds are expected to walk up to three miles to school.

“I appealed saying that we are 3.1 miles to school. Their response was a cross country map using country roads and footpaths that is a 2.7 mile alternative.

“The route is deemed suitable, so she is expected to walk 5.4 miles to and from school as a round trip.

“Don’t get me wrong, I am all for exercise, however, Cornwall Council are expecting her to be accompanied and I work full time.”

She also has three sons Harry, 14, Daniel, 13, and Joe, 11, who get a free bus to their secondary school, which is further away.

“I am very disappointed by the decision,” she added. “It is just not reasonable to ask a nine-year-old to walk to school through that and it is not safe in the wind and rain. It was dark.

“We would have to leave at 7.20am in the pitch black and come back in the dark. There are only four street lights the whole route.

“She also has asthma. They are asking doctors to issue a letter to say how many miles she can walk.

“Sometimes she can not walk across the room when she is affected. So to ask her to do 27 miles a week on a slow and cumbersome trail is ridiculous.”

Helen Snell, the democratic services officer for Cornwall Council said: “While the committee appreciate the reasons for your appeal, it did not consider that there were grounds which justified departing from the Council’s policy.

“In particular it was not considered that there were exceptional circumstances which warrant deviating from the council’s Home to School Transport policy and insufficient evidence to demonstrate that Connie is unable to walk to school by reason of her medical condition.”