HEREFORDSHIRE'S cash-strapped education authority could save about £400,000 by scrapping free transport to its two church high schools, says a county councillor.

Council tax payers are funding a form of 'educational apartheid' where the discretionary free transport scheme favours Anglicans and Roman Catholics, says Councillor Anna Toon. "It's time for these Churches to subsidise their own transport," she said.

Both the Diocese of Hereford and the Archdiocese of Cardiff fear parents - particularly those in rural parishes - will not choose the county's two Church high schools if the scheme were scrapped.

They say the LEA would probably have to spend any savings transporting pupils to other schools.

Coun Toon, a Liberal Democrat, sits on Herefordshire Council's education scrutiny committee, which is reviewing the £6 million spent on school transport.

Under the 1996 Education Act, the authority has to cover transport costs where a child's home is not in walking distance of the nearest school. That is defined as two miles for the under eights and three miles for over eights.

The Act also allows the LEA to regard religious faith among its free transport criteria.

According to LEA figures, it costs about £435,000 to bus 621 students to St Mary's and Bishops - cash Coun Toon says should be channelled straight into schools.

This favours the Anglican and Roman Catholic faiths at the expense of other 'non-mainstream' faiths or those who were not of any faith, says Coun Toon.

"Free transport by faith is a form of educational apartheid. How do we teach diversity and acceptance if we can't apply it at this level?"

Anni Holden, director of communications for Hereford Diocese, said scrapping the scheme would disadvantage rural families who wanted a faith education.

"We would be unhappy to see parents put off by the cost of transport, particularly when the LEA would probably have to cover transport costs to another secondary school anyway," she said.

The Archdiocese of Cardiff's director of schools, Liam Affley, told the Hereford Times there would be concern if parents felt unable to exercise a denominational choice. He said:"For the Catholic community St Mary's is the nearest school. It was established at Lugwardine in the early '70s with the full support of the then LEA including free transport."