IN THE wake of the fatal school bus crash, a Gwent council cancelled all its contracts with a minibus firm involved as a precautionary measure.

Caerphilly county borough council cancelled its eight contracts with A1 Minibus Hire, the firm involved in the Hafodyrynys crash which claimed the life of schoolgirl Jasmine Allen, after using them for more than nine years.

The contracts involve ferrying children to and from eight schools in the county borough. It has not yet been revealed how many children that involves, but Caerphilly council says 8,100 pupils are conveyed daily to school across the county involving 440 daily contracts and a budget of £4.61m in this financial year.

The spokesman added that other minibus operators were able to make up the transport shortfall and that no children were left without a lift to school.

No one at A1 Minibus Hire was available for comment. The driver was arrested on Monday in connection with the crash which left the 12-year-old Hafodyrynys girl dead and the other children on the bus injured, along with two adults on board and a female car driver. Two children remain in hospital today.

The driver was later released on bail. Another man was also arrested yesterday and interviewed before being released on bail.

Gwent police Inspector Fran Richley added yesterday: "There are issues that are being looked at in relation to document-type offences as part of our investigation."

A spokesman for Caerphilly council said: "As a precautionary measure the council has cancelled all the contracts currently undertaken by this minibus firm and will continue to work closely with Gwent Police on this matter.

"We entrust the safety of our children to the transport operators every day and our contracts demand that these operators have stringent measures in place to ensure that all their drivers have the appropriate licences for this task.

"A young life has been lost as a result of this terrible accident and we appreciate that a thorough investigation is still being carried out by the police into the exact cause of the crash.

"As a result of this tragic accident we are contacting all transport contractors to remind them of their rigorous obligations under their contracts with the council.

"Once again we would like to express our deepest sympathy to Jasmine's family and to the families of all the people involved in this dreadful accident."