A BRADFORD bus company said the public are seeing the “worrying reality” of yobbish behaviour on an estate after two vehicles were ambushed on Easter Monday.

Two 645 buses were attacked two days ago as they entered the Ravenscliffe estate, via Ravenscliffe Road in Bradford.

Two windows on each of the buses were supposedly smashed with stones within a short space of time and a young boy on the second vehicles was left shaken, having already been on another 645 bus a few days before that was also attacked.

A witness said the youths didn’t stop there, heading into Bradford city centre and destroying the 645 glass bus stop on Hall Ings, before isolating another 645 bus on Market Street and stopping it moving.

Mohammed Raja, Operations Manager at First Bradford, said: “We are now seeing the more worrying reality of what this reckless and thoughtless behaviour can lead to.

"We are aware that a little boy was very upset by an incident on Monday and urge parents and community leaders to support the clear message that this has to stop immediately before someone is hurt or more serious injury occurs.

“The safety of our staff and customers is our highest priority and we are working closely with the police to investigate the incidents including the use of on board CCTV footage to help identify the individuals involved.”

Ravenscliffe has been plagued with misbehaving yobs for the past month, with the 645 bus service forced to refuse to enter the area on four occasions in less than three weeks, after being attacked.

West Yorkshire Police revealed that it was called to five reports of criminal damage at the entrance to the estate – where Harrogate Road and Ravenscliffe Avenue meet - over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The force also announced earlier today that during that time officers managed to identify, arrest and charge a youth for anti-social behaviour offences across the Bradford East area.

The juvenile, who cannot be named for legal reasons relating to their age, will appear at Bradford Youth Court next month.

A further nine offenders of anti-social behaviour were also dealt with over Easter and were handed either anti-social behaviour contracts, final warnings, or referrals to the anti-social behaviour youth panel.

Acting Police Sergeant Sam Brown, of Bradford East Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), made it clear though that a crucial element in rooting out the problem, is support from the community and those in and around the estate.

This is something Mr Raja supports.

He said: "All incidents have crime numbers and we encourage anyone with information to contact the police or get in touch with Crimestoppers.

“Acts of vandalism cause significant interference to timetable arrangements.

"We aim to source a replacement bus as quickly as possible in order to minimise disruption to our customers, but when vandalism does occur whilst the bus is in service, then inevitably and regrettably will result in at least part of that scheduled journey being cancelled.

"Repairing a bus sometimes means it is also missing from service the following day too.

 “Every time we have to divert buses or shorten a route it is disrupting the lives of local people in the communities we serve. “

But the transport company explained it would not employ extended bans on the 645 visiting the estate to tackle the issue at this time.

Mr Raja said: “We have suspended services from the Ravenscliffe estate for a limited period on previous occasions to ensure the safety of drivers and customers, which we fully understand creates difficulties for people living there.

"This is a decision made on the day and we will continue to adopt this approach.”   

It is not just buses though that have suffered from vandalism in the area.

A nursery had four of its windows smashed between closing yesterday and opening this morning.

The manager warned “we’re going to have our own warzone”.