VANDALS have caused about £3,000 worth of damage by throwing bricks at two school buses during two separate attacks yesterday afternoon.

The Compass Royston buses were targeted in Tollesby Road, Acklam, Middlesbrough at 3.25pm and Junction Road, Stockton, at 3.30pm.

The buses were carrying pupils, aged between 11 and 16, from St David's School, Middlesbrough and St Michael's School, Stockton, at the time of the incidents.

One pupil from St David's School was taken to hospital with minor injuries and the driver was left shaken.

Gary Walton, director of Compass Royston, said: "We do tend to lose about 12 windows a year in attacks like this and each one can cost between £600 and £1,000.

"As well as the disruption to the service, obviously we have to pass on the cost as well. I have known of two incidents like this happening in a week but never two within five minutes of each other. I believe bricks were thrown at the buses."

He added: "The Stockton incident wasn't too bad because nobody was hurt, but in Acklam it was a specialist bus and so we needed to replace it.

"It doesn't surprise me, as it is a regular occurrence and there is nothing we can do about it."