Bus services across County Durham hit by vandalism incidents

Bus drivers who work in County Durham and Darlington have told of the terrifying impact the incidents are having on people carrying out their day-to-day jobs or simply going about their lives.

One employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Northern Echo that drivers are becoming increasingly worried they will be injured due to incidents where objects are thrown at buses “every other day”.

Read more: Crook town centre hit by two 'reckless' criminal damage acts

Vandals have been spotted throwing bricks, rocks and other debris at vehicles, shattering windows and forcing key services to spend days off the roads while they are repaired.

Multiple services have been affected by the increase in vandalism. Pictures: The Northern Echo

In Darlington, one driver told of a string of incidents where windows have been smashed by vandals on Yarm Road, North Road, Haughton Road and Red Hall.

“There’s been a fair few across Darlington, but there are hot spots in Eldon Lane near Bishop Auckland and in Crook Market Place,” the driver said.

Read more: Go North East respond to claims Chester-le-Street depot could close

“They recently pulled the service 5/5a from Eldon Lane after 5:30pm for a few weeks as it got so bad.

“The incident that happened on Yarm Road, a passenger was injured because of the rock that was thrown.

"There’s about five/ six buses off the road due to vandalism hence why some services have been affected.”

Residents in Crook have expressed their anger at the town consistently becoming the victim of anti-social behaviour attacks - after two serious criminal damage incidents were reported within hours of each other last week.

One incident saw the driver window of an Arriva bus get smashed as it was driving through the market town - with the item used to cause damage narrowly missing the driver.

The bus driver said the incidents are causing drivers to fear driving at night-time due to the spate of incidents.

One bus driver shared a picture of a rock which was thrown at a bus, smashing one of its windows. Pictures: The Northern Echo

They added: “Some drivers are even getting worried it’s going to cause a bad accident or seriously injure. It’s getting to a point where it’s nearly every other day objects are getting thrown at buses, but it’s getting all too common that windows are getting smashed.

Arriva did not confirm the specific locations of the incidents but said its services had been affected in the town.

A spokeswoman for the bus company said: “The safety of our staff and passengers is of paramount importance to us and we take incidents of antisocial behaviour very seriously.

Read more: Darlington's Yarm Road labelled 'hotspot' for anti-social behaviour

"We have internal and external CCTV on all of our buses and provide CCTV images to the police in respect of every report."

“We are working closely with Darlington policing teams and Darlington Council to help reduce and eliminate these occurrences which have been happening on a regular basis since the start of 2022.”

Durham County Council said neighbourhood wardens have been patrolling Crook after the incidents, which it believes were caused by young people in the town.

Drivers have told of their concern for their own safety amid the rise in vandalism. Picture: The Northern Echo

Durham Police has been contacted for comment.

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