BUS passengers are urged to help police inquiries into an alleged indecent assault on an evening service.

Officers are trying to trace passengers who took the 78A service between Stanley and Consett, County Durham, on Thursday October 8.

A 16-year-old girl boarded the bus at the station shortly before it set off, at 9.13pm.

She was followed by a man in his 40s, who sat next to her and allegedly touched her legs, before he got off, in the nearby village of New Kyo.

The frightened girl moved to sit near to the driver and, when the bus reached Consett, she got off and reported the incident to police.

PC Steve Kerr, of Durham Police, said: “There were half a dozen passengers on that vehicle and we would like to speak to them.

“This young woman was extremely upset by this experience she endured, but she was not hurt.”

Anyone on that bus is asked to ring PC Kerr, via Durham Police’s non-emergency line, 0845-60 60 365.

A 40-year-old man has been arrested, questioned and bailed pending further inquiries into the alleged incident.