A BUS company boss has called on police to ride his buses after a driver was threatened and a seat thrown through another vehicle's window.

Alan Pilkington, of Pilkington's Coaches, said that although Hyndburn has a similar scheme like Blackburn's whereby police can ride on the buses for free, they do not use it very much.

"Its getting beyond a joke, these teenagers could have seriously hurt someone or much worse," he said.

The call follows two separate but "alarming" incidents last Thursday where youths vandalised buses. In the first incident in Ormerod Street, Fern Gore, children smashed windows while the bus was moving.

The second, more serious incident, happened in Blackburn Road, where eight Asian youths aged about 18 ripped out a metal seat and smashed it through a window, narrowly missing a moving car.

They then rounded on the bus driver after he confronted them.

Although the bus driver wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals he said he was concerned for his safety and that of his passengers as cases of vandalism and trouble on buses had been getting worse in recent years

Mr Pilkington said: "It was absolutely dreadful, the seat crashed out of the window straight on to the road. A car was moving towards it and it only just missed that. God only knows what could have happened. The driver stopped the bus and went to see what had happened. He confronted the eight youths, but they then all surrounded him and said 'what are you going to do about it?'

"In both cases, the police were told, but it is really difficult to keep the youths on the bus and identify them afterwards.

"We need to see the police leaving their cars behind more and using the buses. They should take all the police cars off them and get them out on the beat using the buses to get about. The police should use the buses more like they're doing in Blackburn now they've got the new town centre police station."

Mohammed Iqbal, of M&M bus company, said he supported the idea.

"I think it's a good idea, but I don't hold out much hope," he said. We're having ongoing trouble with children vandalising our buses."

Jean Battle, deputy leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, said: "They could bring it up at the next Bus Forum or Hyndburn Community Safety Partnership meeting."

Sgt Paul Broxson said: "We set up a scheme whereby community beat managers, community wardens and the police and community beat officers, would use the buses at certain times of the day to go to jobs and on their beats.

"If Pilkington's are concerned I will speak to them and see if there is anything we can do stop their particular problems or increase the numbers of police on their buses if they do not see many."