OUR story last week about an incident involving the behaviour of some pupils from Ilkley Grammar School on a bus has attracted much attention. We have been accused of 'cheap journalistic shots' and printing a 'litany of lurid quotations' by head teacher Peter Wood.

This week we have returned to the story (see Page 3), not to wring every last drop of sensationalism out of the events, but out of a duty to serve the public interest and to properly investigate what was quite a disturbing incident.

We have been given to understand that the pupils involved were motivated by a sense of injustice because a younger pupil, entitled to travel at half-fare, was charged the full amount by a driver who did not accept that he was only 13 years old.

The driver's estimation was wrong, but the fact that the police had to be subsequently called and passengers were clearly upset indicates that the reaction of the grammar school pupils was also wrong.

It is the Gazette's duty as a community newspaper to report such incidents fairly, and from all angles. That is why we spoke to one of the passengers (others subsequently contacted the bus company to offer their support to the driver), the bus company, the police and the school and faithfully reported what we were told by all sides.

The bus company operates a policy where youngsters entitled to half-fare can obtain a 'proof of age card' (costing £2) to prevent such incidents arising. There are also complaints procedures which can be followed by passengers who feel they have been treated unfairly by a bus company employee.

If either of these options had been taken there would have been no story in the Gazette. We take our duty seriously to report such incidents without fear or favour, as accurately as possible, and also without prejudice to any side whatsoever .