BUS drivers in east Cleveland are to be given a direct line to the local police following a series of unprovoked attacks.

Last weekend, Leven Valley Coaches temporarily withdrew late night services from Guisborough to east Cleveland, following a drunken attack on a driver.

It came only weeks after Arriva also withdrew some late night and weekend services over concerns for the safety of its drivers.

The latest incident happened last Friday night when a drunken youth started shaking and prodding the driver. He got off the bus when other passengers shouted at him to leave the driver alone.

The incident prompted a meeting between the bus service operators, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Langbaurgh police to develop a scheme to boost the bus drivers' confidence.

As a result, the police will keep in regular contact with the bus drivers by mobile phone throughout their journey and if there are problems, the bus can be intercepted quickly by the police and the culprit dealt with immediately.

Dave McLuckie, lead member for community safety with the borough council, said the success of the scheme will be seen next weekend.

He said that he was concerned over a significant increase in anti social behaviour across the borough in recent weeks and is especially concerned because the incidents were becoming more violent.

Paul Thompson, from Leven Valley Coaches, said the bus company had endured more such problems in the past six months than in the whole of the 16 years the firm has been running services throughout east Cleveland.

He said that Friday's incident was the third time a driver had been attacked and there have been numerous incidences of bus windows being smashed.

"We hope it has blown over and we think passengers have got the message and the drivers are happy with the support from Redcar and Cleveland council and the police and they feel confident enough to return."

In December, Arriva said it was cutting weekend and evening services on routes serving Loftus, Brotton, Skelton and Guisborough, as well as early evening services between Lingdale and Guisborough, because of assaults on staff.

Mike Barber, the marketing manager for the company, said some services had been reinstated and that attacks on members of staff were a sporadic problem.