‘Mindless stupidity’: Buses attacked by stone-throwing youths in York

Stone-throwing youths who attacked York buses have been condemned as ‘stupid’ and ‘mindless’ by transport bosses.

Two number 9 buses from First York and a Coastliner vehicle suffered smashed windows and other damage, by a group throwing stones on Peasholme Green near to Trinity Church.

It happened at around 9pm last night (Monday).

No one was injured. Police were called to the scene.

Managing director of First York Marc Bichtemann said: “This was a very rare incident but shows the impact such stupidity can have.

“It’s mindless vandalism and is endangering our drivers and customers and disrupting the lives of local people in the communities we serve, especially at this time when we are focused on ensuring key workers and anyone making essential journeys can travel when they need to.

“The safety of colleagues and customers is our highest priority and will work closely with the police to investigate these incidents including the use of on board CCTV to help identify the individuals involved.”  

The First vehicles had to return to depot for repairs which interrupted the service while replacement buses were arranged.

Alex Hornby, chief executive of Transdev, added: “All drivers and support colleagues continue to do a magnificent job in a time of crisis, which makes this anti-social behaviour all the more senseless as they have to stop the important role they’re playing to deal with the consequences.

“We are all aware of the lockdown regulations in place. Groups should not be congregating right now, day or night, and hopefully the community will help to prevent this happening again.”