Police have no CCTV evidence of the moment a 68-year-old pensioner was viciously attacked by a gang of yobs on a Bradford bus.

As the Telegraph & Argus exclusively reported on Monday, grandfather Fred Gilroy was kicked and punched to the floor after confronting the gang when he was shot in the ear with a pellet gun.

But it has now emerged that, despite the bus being fitted with cameras, footage was not kept by bus company First as it was not aware of the full circumstances of the attack.

It is the latest in a string of concerns Mr Gilroy has raised about security on First buses.

A First spokesman said it did not keep the footage because it was not told until later that a pellet gun was involved.

But Mr Gilroy said the police told him a camera simply had not worked.

Mr Gilroy was taking the 636 bus from Bradford to his home in Clayton at about 11am on November 7 when he was shot in the ear with a pellet gun.

He told the youths off and went to speak to the bus driver, but the gang surrounded him, beat him until he fell to the floor, then carried on kicking him.

Mr Gilroy said once the gang had fled, the driver apologised for not coming to help because he was not allowed to leave his protected cab.

Mr Gilroy said police had told him the CCTV camera on the bus was not working.

He said: “The police haven’t given an explanation why it wasn’t working, it just wasn’t working.

“It’s not right. It’s made me more angry.”

The First spokesman said: “When the incident was first reported to our staff Mr Gilroy said that youths were throwing things like chewing gum at him.

“When the situation escalated our driver did make an effort to leave his cab but the youths were holding his door. He therefore immediately raised the alarm via his radio.

“When police arrived no mention of a pellet gun was made by Mr Gilroy and therefore the investigation was not treated as a gun-related crime.

“This would have involved the bus being immediately taken off the road as a serious crime scene and all CCTV being immediately looked at.

“At a later time and after Mr Gilroy had been to hospital, reports were made that a pellet gun may have been used. By this time any suitable CCTV was no longer in existence.”

Police declined to comment on why there was no CCTV footage.

Sergeant Alastair Milner, of the Bradford North Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We have undertaken forensic examinations within the bus and we are currently pursuing some positive lines of inquiry.”