Bus vandalism could lead to a halt of services in the Great Yarmouth area
Bus services could be suspended in Great Yarmouth Picture: James Bass - Credit: James Bass
Bus services in Great Yarmouth could be suspended after vandals have repeatedly smashed windows on its fleet of buses by throwing objects at them - causing thousands of pounds of damage.
First Eastern Counties says if the problem persists it will consider withdrawing buses until the problem is solved.
The latest incident happened on Sunday night to buses in the Regent Road area which had left Market Gates bus stop, with windows of the vehicles being smashed, causing £800 of damage.
Reacting to the latest attack, Chris Speed, head of operations for First Eastern Counties, said: 'We had an incident on Sunday evening by one of our drivers who was travelling from the Market Gates Bus Station towards Caister.
'The driver heard a thud, resulting in a window being smashed by an object that had been thrown at the bus.
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'The driver stopped the vehicle and asked customers if anyone had incurred any injuries, fortunately everyone was OK.
'Not long after this we had a second incident the same as the first one.
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'This is a mindless act and one that we have been experiencing for some time across our bus network in the Great Yarmouth area.
'The safety and wellbeing of our customers and staff is paramount and we will do everything we can to assist the police in finding and prosecuting anyone that is involved in this criminal activity.
'It is also a matter of cost to us as a business, Sunday night's incidents will amount to around £800 to replace the windows with safety glass and fitting, over the last few weeks the sum has escalated into the thousands as we have had many windows broken.
'In circumstances involving persistent criminal damage to our buses and an increased threat to the safety of our staff and customers, we would review the situation and could involve the withdrawal of a service to an area temporarily, until the problem is resolved.'
Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner Lorne Green said he will raise the issue when he meets with the head of Yarmouth police Supt Roger Wiltshire and added: 'The community must be safe and feel safe.'
The police are investigating the latest incidents and have asked witnesses or anyone with information to call police on 101.
