Why don't Mayors take the bus, mummy?

London school-run mums have lashed out at the city leader who declines to travel by bus to work.

"Back when I was growing up," one nostalgic mother opined from the safety of her 4x4 as she veered into the path of a Safeway delivery lorry, "local borough mayors use to go everywhere by bus or train. I'd often see them on my way to school by looking out of window of my mum's Morris Minor."

Pausing only to stop in the "No Stopping Here — Keep Our Kids Safe" zone in front of Montessori Girls High to drop off darling Trinny, she droned on: "Now, London's mayor seems to prefer to get around town by way of taxi or in his official car."

"It would do him so much good if he used public transport," insisted another mum as she plotted her route back home through London's crowded streets. "Travelling this way early on in your term of office gives you greater self-confidence and helps you to grow up quickly. I reckon if he did that, then he'd be mature enough to stop a lot of his silly policies."

With the added burden of Livingstone and his manifold aides and visitors travelling the streets of London by cab, there has been much less space for harried parents trying to get their kids to school on time.

"It's a nightmare," commented one stay-at-home parent. "Yesterday I was cut up by three London Assembly race relations advisors, a limo full of a Cuban delegation to city hall, and a van carrying copies of The Londoner."

But Livingstone refuses to accept such claims, pointing out that travel for mayors in the 21st century is just not as safe and secure as it used to be. "It's completely different," Livingstone declaimed while carefully tossing a sweet wrapper to the ground for a poorly-paid street-sweeper to pick up later, "these days there are all sorts of hazards that just didn't exist back then. Such as motorists angry at my congestion charging."

However, recently released figures from the Institute for Useless Drivel indicate safety for London mayors has remained relatively unchanged over the past 50 years with none dying from traffic accidents in any of the previous five decades.