ATTACKING buses seems to have “become a habit” among young people in Bradford, says a driver who hit out following another string of attacks on vehicles in the city.

The driver, who did not wish to be named, said areas of West Bowling, Clayton and Buttershaw were the worst-affected parts of the city.

Yobs threw a brick through the window of a bus in Manchester Road earlier this month, and 12 bus windows were later smashed in three days.

The driver identified Reevy Road West in Buttershaw, the Parkside area of West Bowling, Saffron Drive in Allerton, Duckworth Lane near Bradford Royal Infirmary, the area around Hunters Park in Bradford Road, Clayton, and Fenwick Drive in Woodside, as hotspots for vandalism.

He also said his bus had come under attack and its windows smashed on Newlands Avenue in Northowram.

He said attacking buses seemed to have become a “habit” among young people.

A spokesman for bus company First Buses West Yorkshire said it was working with police to tackle the issue.

She said: “We can confirm that we have had several acts of vandalism towards some of our vehicles around the Bradford area, but we’d like to reassure customers that we are working very closely with the police to identify the individuals involved in these incidents.

“When an incident occurs we will alert the police immediately.”

A spokesman for Unite, which represents public transport workers, said it was “concerned” by the issue and was working to “bring the culprits to justice”.

He said: Unite is very concerned that our members in Bradford and the travelling public are being put at risk when buses are attacked and damaged due to a mindless few individuals.”

Buses in Bradford had been attacked over a period of time, but the level of attacks increased before Bonfire Night.

“It is not just one area where the attacks have happened – it is across the district, where stones, bricks and in some instances metal objects have been thrown at buses damaging windows, destination blinds and front screens, luckily avoiding serious injury to drivers and passengers,” said the Unite spokesman.

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“The cost of replacing a window is well in to hundreds of pounds and on top of that is the labour cost, loss of revenue and disruption to service and passengers.

“We have been working very closely with police, Council wardens and local authority officers to tackle this problem and have had number of meetings to identify and bring these culprits to justice.

“Everyone involved has been working very hard to make sure that we can bring this issue to stop and make sure that our drivers and passengers alike are safe on our buses.”