A COUNCILLOR appealed to parents yesterday to keep their children off the streets after gangs of young people threw stones at service buses.

The window of an Arriva bus was broken on Saturday night, in Chilton, although none of the passengers were hurt.

Councillor Brian Avery, who represents Chilton on Sedgefield Borough Council, was arriving in the village on another bus on Thursday when it too was targeted.

He met police on Sunday and has written to Chief Constable Paul Garvin demanding action.

He said: "There are about 20 youths hanging around the church grounds and they throw bricks and stones at buses.

"Buses are a sitting target when they stop at traffic lights at the top of Chilton.

"Somebody on the buses is going to get hurt and I want something done before that happens.

"I blame the children's parents. They don't know where they are or what they are doing. They are not teaching their youngsters any respect."

A spokeswoman for Arriva confirmed the two incidentshad happened.

She said: "Clearly we are concerned. We are working closely together with the police to try to apprehend the people who throw things at our buses.

"Our primary concern is to ensure the safety of both our employees and our customers.

"We want to encourage anybody who sees this sort of thing happening to come forward with information, no matter how small that information is."