Four out of the five school buses that were safety checked at the John Kyrle High School recently were found to have faults. One bus was given a delayed prohibition notice for having two front cracked brake discs.  The vehicle will have to be repaired and re-tested before it can continue in service. Police joined forces with officers from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to carry out two operations to make the county's roads safer. Roadside checks were carried out on two separate days before Christmas, with vehicles put through extensive examinations to ensure they were roadworthy. Drivers' documentation was also checked to ensure it was correct. Officers from the Ross Town Local Policing Team organised the first check at John Kyrle High School, with surprise inspections of school buses as they arrived in the morning on December 18th. Advisory notes were issued to three vehicles for less serious faults, including an oil leak, a loose seat, a lighting defect and failed number plate light.  No immediate prohibition notices were issued. "We know that the safety of pupils on school buses has been a concern for local people, who have raised a number of issues through the PACT process," said Ross Town CSO Lisa Austin, who arranged for the VOSA checks to be carried out.  "By inviting the VOSA officers and a member of our headquarters roads policing unit along to John Kyrle, we were able to carry out spot checks on vehicles to ensure they were safe. "We will be organising similar checks in the future to ensure the safety of passengers and we hope that we will see a greater number that are completely fault free," added CSO Austin. The Ross vehicle checks were followed up two-days later by Operation Total, a larger scale initiative in Hereford city centre, which saw checks on 50 vehicles, only 20% were found to be completely defect free.  Three vehicles were issued with immediate prohibitions for serious faults, including an inoperative handbrake, headlamps and faulty tyres.   These vehicles were taken off the road straight away.  Herefordshire Council's Taxi Licensing Officers also carried out checks.  Three warnings were issued to vehicles for not having a first aid kit on board, or failing to have insurance details or the driver's badge on display.  The majority of the taxis inspected were fault free, however.