A school bus was held up at roadworks by contractors who had been told to let it through, making many of the pupils on board late for their first day.

Parents were left fuming after the Sanders bus was delayed in north Norfolk on the morning of Thursday, September 6.

It happened on the Holt to Cley Road on the way to Alderman Peel High School in Wells.

UK Power Networks was working at the site to supply electricity to new houses. But a spokesman said it had no staff or contractors on site in the morning when it happened.

However, a spokesman said there would have been other contractors on site at the time.

Parent Richard Waugh, from Cley, said: 'Norfolk County Council thought there would be a problem so had spoken to the contractor in advance and was assured they would let the bus through in the morning before starting work for the day.

'The Sanders bus turned up between 7.30am and 7.50am expecting to be allowed through as organised.

'The road was closed so the driver started moving cones, then the county council road contractor got angry and the whole thing went testosterone mad. The contractor then completely blocked the bus in so it couldn't reverse either and the police had to intervene.

'By this time the bus was too late for most and parents had to leave jobs to rescue their kids and get them to school. There were a number of fresh Year sevens involved who were already nervous on their first day. Anyway, all was fine on Friday, September 7 as UK Power Networks finished early.'

A Norfolk County Council spokesperson said: 'The road closure was to facilitate electrical connections to new properties and this was the last day of roadworks for the contractors working on site.

'An arrangement had been made for the bus operator to pass through the works, however, on the day in question, this did not occur with immediate effect causing a delay in journey times.'

Do you know which contractors were responsible for not allowing the bus to get through? Email david.bale2@archant.co.uk