Herefordshire Council spends �400,000 a year putting on buses to CofE and Roman Catholic schools in the county.

The council had considered scrapping the service, but has said it can continue if parents help to pay for it.

Hundreds of parents drove into High Town on Tuesday afternoon to protest and attend a prayer meeting.

'Huge' consultation

They said their demonstration would also help to illustrate the impact on the roads if the bus scheme was scrapped

The council is proposing to keep the free bus service until July next year. After that, any pupils changing church schools or starting new ones would have to pay �100 a term.

In a statement, the council said it had made its decision following a "huge" consultation exercise involving parents of more than 13,000 children.

The council said it had reviewed its policy on free denominational school transport after legal concerns were raised that it could be discriminatory.

The Diocese of Hereford, which is supporting the action, said 39 schools in Herefordshire were Church of England aided or controlled.

Bishop of Hereford Anthony Priddis has written to George Salmon, head of policy and resources at the council, to express his concern.