Angry dad David Beldon has hit out at a Wiltshire coach firm after his 15-year-old son and a friend were left stranded when a bus driver refused to let them on because he did not have change for their £10 note.

Finn Beldon and the other boy were barred from the 92 Chippenham to Malmesbury bus, despite protestations that they had no coins.

Instead of allowing them to change the £10 at a shop or find change from fares of passengers who boarded later, the driver left the pair at the bus stop.

Finn, a student at Malmes-bury School, had a bank card and was able to draw out cash for a ten-mile taxi trip home, which cost £23.

After being contacted by the Gazette & Herald, the Coachstyle Bus Company of Horsdown, Chippenham, issued an apology to Mr Beldon and the boys and said it would reimburse his son.

The company said it had reprimanded the driver and was now introducing a new system to ensure such an incident never happens again.

Finn, a cricketer, was with a group of four friends who had spent a day of their half-term holidays in Bath on Wednesday last week.

Arriving from Bath by train at Chippenham, they attempted to board the 5.15pm bus.

Three paid and got on, but when Finn tried to pay for himself and his friend, the driver said he did not have enough change.

Mr Beldon, 52, head of client services at a communications firm, said: “Shame on Coachstyle for letting this happen. To leave two minors at a bus stop, abandoned, is totally unacceptable.

“It’s lucky that Finn had a bank card and that they were they able to get home.

“The bus had at least ten other people on board, including three of my son’s friends who had already paid with change.

“The fare must have been in the region of £3 between the two. I am astounded and dismayed that the driver was unable to offer change of somewhere between £6.60 and £7.

“At the very least, was he not capable of allowing them to board and complete the change exchange after the bus reached Malmesbury and other passengers had augmented his own change reserve?”

Coachstyle director Lynne Jones offered her “sincere apologies” to Mr Beldon and said the firm took the situation “very seriously and understand that this is totally unacceptable.”

She added: “Our driver has been interviewed and reprimanded. This unfortunate incident has highlighted a problem in our system and we have implemented a strategy to ensure this does not happen again.”

It will now issue vouchers to passengers if notes cannot be changed, redeemable by post or in person.

Mrs Jones said Finn would be reimbursed for “all costs incurred that day.”