PARENTS are outraged their kids are being forced to queue for hours outside a train station after school.
Stephen Thomas, 54, says his son was delayed an hour on Tuesday after missing his usual train because of the long line of students outside Chalkwell Station, Essex.
He was one of dozens of pupils seen queuing outside the station after rail operator c2c kids stopped kids wearing uniforms from entering the station.
His annoyed dad told the Echo Essex: “All the school children, no matter what uniform you are wearing, are forced to line up outside the station whilst adults are still allowed to the enter the station and get on the platform.
“They weren’t even given a reason and what concerns me is he has had long day, and should normally get back around five, and now he is getting here close to six."
He's been left frustrated by the "principal of it" when adults can go in and out.
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Stephen and other parents feel as though their kids are being unfairly punished for the actions of other people.
Stephen worries about the students' safety having to stay waiting as it gets dark.
He said: "Doing this to children at this age is worrying too as they are vulnerable, I am just about comfortable with the journey he gets, but the more they are made to wait, the later and darker it gets, it concerns me especially for his safety.
“How can you discriminate? If the station is having problems with certain school children, then ban them or tackle that.”
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Iain Palmer, head of revenue protection and security at c2c, defended the move.
He said concerns over passenger's safety arose after a "spate of antisocial behaviour" by school kids at stations in the area.
Mr Palmer said: "We believe that everyone has the right to travel on clean, punctual trains.
“Therefore, we have implemented a queuing system to reduce these issues, as well as banning some individual students after one particular incident caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to one of our trains.
“We have been working closely with local schools and BTP on these plans and continue to closely monitor the situation.”
Sergeant Jay Bibby from The British Transport Police said cops are aware of reports from passengers and station staff in relation to the "anti-social behaviour" at Chalkwell station and the costly damage to a train.
He said: "We are working with c2c rail, local schools and passenger groups alongside conducting additional high visibility patrols this school year as part of our plan to disrupt and deter anti-social behaviour.
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"We’d also encourage members of the public to download a brand-new app called Railway Guardian, alongside lots of useful information the app can be used to report any type of crime directly to us via 61016 or our online crime report."
The Sun has contacted c2c for comment.
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