Angry Anne is put off the school bus

The fit, enthusiastic and healthy pensioner would love to continue in her £120-a-week post as a bus escort - but has been told by Northumberland County Council that she will reach the final stop when she turns 65 in November.

Anne challenged the ruling but her appeal was rejected.

She claims there is no reason why she should not be allowed to carry on working, and says the ruling is completely at odds with the Government's new Equality Bill which requires public bodies to eliminate age discrimination.

Anne lives in Wydon Terrace, Haltwhistle, with her husband Alan, 66 Her job involves making a twice-daily journey to ensure pupils are safe and well-behaved.

Earlier this year she received a letter from the council asking if she wanted to carry on working when she reached 65. She said she did but was later told she would not be allowed to.

Yesterday Anne said: "I would like to continue working for another year or two because my health is good, I really enjoy being with the children and feel I still have something to offer. The response from the county council was basically 'thanks but no thanks'.

"I made a formal appeal with the support of the union but it was turned down.

"I feel that if people want to work after 65 they should be allowed to. It is a human rights issue. I have tried to challenge the decision and maybe now I have to accept it, but I am not going down without a fight and have written to my MEP, Fiona Hall, about it.

"There must be other people employed by the council who would like to stay working after they are 65."

A county council spokeswoman said its policy was that all employees retire at 65. He said: "We write to employees to advise them of this and give them the right to request to stay in employment. In this case it was decided there were no exceptional circumstances.

"We deal with each case on its merits and take seriously our responsibility to ensure that employment opportunities are open to all sections of our community."