Bus company boycotts Dunstable estate after vandals target vehicles

A bus company has pulled out of a Dunstable estate at night after its vehicles came repeatedly under fire.

Centrebus has said it will not operate in the Downside area of the town after 7pm, after five of its buses had windows broken by yobs while driving through the estate in the past couple of weeks.

The damage means the buses are out of action waiting to be repaired, and the company has concerns for the safety of its drivers and passengers. CCTV has failed to spot the vandals but the company believe it is youngsters.

Andy Cook, Bus Network Manager, said the buses were targeted after the nights started getting darker earlier.

"It's dark, and young people on that estate have been known for anti-social behaviour", he said.

"We have been operating the service for a number of years but we have never had it this bad.

"It's a mixture of objects, stones and we think an air rifle, and the buses are targeted as they are moving. It's dangerous, the glass is designed to shatter but there is a risk of the missiles hitting passengers or drivers.

"We have had minor little issues in the past but nothing that's forced us to stop the service.

"We haven't had any updates from the police, nothing's been done."

The service will now terminate at Mayfield Road from 7pm, seven nights a week. It will affect around eight bus trips in the area each night.

Mr Cook said: "These are vital services for people, we don't want to be letting people down but we would be risking the safety of passengers and drivers. Our drivers don't feel safe."

Manshead town councillor Philip Crawley said the move was "massively disappointing".

"It's unacceptable that any passengers or drivers are put at risk," he said. "It's totally unacceptable behaviour."

He said people on the Downside estate had one of the lowest levels of car ownership in Central Bedfordshire and people relied on the bus service.

Downside had been earmarked for funding from the Office of the Police Commissioner and Cllr Crawley said he would be liaising with Central Bedfordshire Council's Safer Streets team to find out what has been happening and what can be done to improve safety in the area.

Have you been on a bus during one of these incidents, or perhaps you will be impacted by the company stopping services at night. Email views to [email protected]READ MORE: Health and Safety prosecution after staff member was badly burnt from falling into hot cooking oil at Holiday Inn Express Dunstable