A BUS company has withdrawn its services to a Darlington estate because it has become too dangerous for drivers and passengers.

The Green Bus Company, which runs three services to the Red Hall estate, has withdrawn its buses after a string of incidents in which youngsters hurled missiles at the vehicles.

The final straw came when a stone was thrown and smashed a window on the number 19 bus as it travelled along Coombe Drive, near Bisley Court, at 3.05pm on Monday.

Richard Cranmer, managing director of the firm, said he had made the decision to withdraw services because the situation had become too dangerous for his staff and customers.

He said: "Fortunately there were no passengers on the bus at the time of this latest incident, but if anyone had been sitting in the seat nearest the window they would have been showered with an awful lot of glass."

Earlier this week, both Green Bus and Stagecoach bus companies had complained about problems with children throwing stones and tampering with their vehicles on the estate.

Mr Cranmer said: "Youngsters have continued to throw stones at our buses, so we've withdrawn the buses from the estate, and that will continue until we can guarantee our staff and customers' safety.

"This is a problem that needs to be addressed. The measures we have previously taken have obviously not been sufficient. We need some reassurances from the police that they are taking action.

"We are checking our CCTV footage from the cameras covering both the inside and the outside of the bus. There's a good chance we caught the person responsible and if that's the case and we can identify them, we will be prosecuting."

Police Insp Sue Collingwood said they were treating the incidents very seriously and urged people to help officers by identifying those responsible.

"It's terrible that as a result of the actions of a stupid minority, everyone on the estate will suffer, because they will lose this bus service for good if this continues.

"We need people to identify the culprits so we can take action. The beat officer will draw up an action plan."

The Green Bus services are contracted by Darlington Borough Council, which supports the withdrawal of services to Red Hall.