Some rural children may have trouble getting to school if nothing is done to improve a number of Far North roads.
Last week, after heavy rain inflicted further damage, Ritchies' Kaitaia-Mangonui operations manager Mike Swinburne told his drivers that if a road had deteriorated to the point where their buses or passengers were at risk they should return to the depot in Kaitaia.
Mr Swinburne cited Whangape, Pawarenga and Dangen's Rds in Peria as among the worst.
Water had gouged out channels, slips had not been repaired and road edges were breaking away, while a lack of metal had made some places so slippery that braking was perilous.
"Put the brakes on and the bus just slides."
The root of the problem was a lack of water table maintenance, he said.
"No one's cleaning out the drains, so the water runs across the road, scouring out channels and breaking the road edge," he said.
"Some places are just about impassable, and it's going to get worse given that we are bound to get more wet weather for some months."
A slip on Whangape Rd had deteriorated over recent days and had been marked with pegs but nothing had been done about repairing it. It was now close to closing the road to school buses, if not all traffic.
The Far North District Council did not respond to inquiries by edition time.