BUSES were stopped form entering part of Darlington after a vehicle was attacked by youths throwing missiles.

Concerns were last night raised about high levels of anti-social behaviour, with one councillor saying attacks on buses are a real problem across the whole town.

Arriva North East was forced to terminate its Firthmoor service at the Copper Beech pub after "acts of vandalism" on Thursday evening.

The 13A and 13B service was operating only between the pub and the centre of town, effectively rendering Firthmoor a no-go area for buses.

One female passenger she was travelling on Thursday, along with another woman and a child, when "kids put the window out on the front of the bus".

And police said they received a report of youngsters throwing stones at passing buses and taxis outside the Copper Beech at about 10.22pm.

By the time police arrived, the youths had gone. They were described as wearing black puffer jackets.

A spokeswoman for Durham Constabulary said: “Throwing stones at buses is not a bit of harmless fun – it is reckless, dangerous and has the potential to cause injury.”

She said there had been no other calls about it before or afterwards, and it was not known what damage was caused.

Nick Knox, area managing director for Arriva North East said: “We can confirm that our 13A/13B service was subject to vandalism and for safety reasons we missed out certain elements of the route.

"The safety of our passengers and employees is our top priority, fortunately there were no reported injuries.

"Together with the police we are conducting a full investigation to ensure that it is dealt with quickly and appropriately.”

Normal services had resumed yesterday, but it is understood that Arriva has been suffering attacks on buses by gangs of youths in the region for some time.

A bus is believed to have had to be taken out of service due to vandalism, after an incident in the Middlesbrough area.

Broken bus windows are understood to cost Arriva more than £1,000 each time to replace.

Last night Kevin Nicholson, independent councillor for Firthmoor, said: "I don't know about what happened in any great detail but I have asked the inspector at the police station for an update.

"Across the town there is a real spike in young people taking part in anti-social behaviour which is really disappointing because in Firthmoor there are things for young people to do, it is not an excuse here.

"It is that type of behaviour we are seeing more of, which is really disappointing. It is not the reputation that we want for our area. It is an amazing area, we do some fantastic things here and when things like this happen it lets all of us down."

He called for a better partnership between police and councillors and more of a police presence in the area.