Parents furious after Muslim bus driver stops coach full of schoolchildren to pray in busy road

ANGRY parents have hit out at a Muslim coach driver who left their children stranded as he stopped to pray on a busy main road.

50 young children, teachers and parents from were stuck in the road just a mile away from the school while he conducted his daily prayer.

Witnesses claim he calmly stepped off the coach, then washed his feet and pulled out a prayer mat at the side of the road.

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Now concerned parents from Meon Junior School in Southsea, Hants, are demanding answers as they claim the driver's actions put those on board at serious risk.

Claire Powell, whose nine-year-old daughter Heidi was a passenger, said: "I was absolutely livid when I heard.

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"There were people swerving to avoid the coach and beeping.

"He was putting children's lives at risk.

"At the end of the day he has a duty of care to fulfil.

"This isn't about his religion - he simply shouldn't have done it."

Adele Richards also worried about daughter Ruby, nine.

She said: "All it would have taken was for a big lorry to come flying round the corner and hit them - that would have been very serious, there could have been fatalities."

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Dawn Barker added: "He could have waited literally two minutes to get to the school."

Local Muslims also lined up to condemn the man.

Community activist Sumel Chowdhury said: "He should have parked the vehicle in a safer place to pray.

"Prayers are flexible, if you miss one you can do it one or two hours later."

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Portsmouth City Councillor and practising Muslim, Yahiya Chowdhury, added: "If he is doing a job like that then he should care for the children first and make sure the children are safe before he goes to pray.

"He should not put the children at risk to pray.

"That is wrong."

The coach company, Vision Travel, has launched an investigation into the event, and the driver has been given a warning.