Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TURRIFF, Scotland, May 5 (UPI) -- Crooner Chris de Burgh has intervened in the case of a schoolgirl in Scotland who was told to hitchhike to school, or pay for school bus service. The singer best known for his 1986 hit, "Lady in Red," heard news accounts Wednesday of how 8-year-old Heidi Pennells was told by her rural school council she lived too close to her primary school for free school bus service. Advertisement While the school bus passes the girl's home each day, the council suggested either the girl stand on the country road and look for a free ride, or the parents could pay about $5 a week for service. De Burgh, who lives on a $5 million estate in Ireland, said he was appalled and contacted the girl's parents by telephone offering to pay a lump sum for bus service, The Telegraph said Thursday. "This seems like such a simple thing to fix and asking a little girl to hitchhike seems so ridiculous," he said. A spokesman for the Aberdeenshire school council said the case was still being investigated, and de Burgh's celebrity intervention would carry no weight. Advertisement
