The unnamed driver's actions fell "way below standards"
A bus driver who abandoned his vehicle with 30 children on board has been sacked for "gross misconduct".
The unnamed driver got lost after having to change routes because of a crash in Norfolk on Wednesday.
After leaving the children unattended, he returned to tell them to find their own way home because the bus was stuck down a narrow country lane.
Norse, the firm that runs Norfolk County Council's bus service, said his actions fell "way below standards".
Richard Mack, whose 11-year-old daughter was on the bus, said: "I don't want to think someone's lost their job over it, but it was quite a serious incident, really, to leave children in the dark in the middle of nowhere."
He said the driver told his daughter to phone her parents and "make her own way home", some seven miles away from where the bus got stuck near Reedham.
Paul Bonham, from Norse, said it was fortunate "no child got lost in the dark, fell in the ditch themselves, or got hit on a dark country lane".
The crash between a tanker and a car on the A47 led to the school bus being diverted
The firm said that when the driver left the bus to find out his location, he failed to tell his manager the children were still onboard.
The council said: "All school transport drivers have a duty to remain with children, in the event of a problem, until appropriate alternative arrangements have been made."
Norse has sent a letter of apology to all the parents affected.
It is understood all the children made it home safely.
One person was injured in the crash, which shut the A47 near North Burlingham.
