TRANSPORT leaders in Preston and South Ribble have welcomed the news that their union has met with the Government in an effort to cut crime on buses.

The Minister for Transport met with the leader of the Transport and General Worker's Union to draw up plans to improve crew and passenger safety.

The news comes around 18 months after Preston Bus were forced to divert services out of the Brookfield area, after teenage yobs pelted buses with stones.

At the meeting transport minister John Spellar said: "We are absolutely determined to reduce crime and the fear of crime wherever it occurs. We are doing much already but I want to do more."

The TGWU are pressing for special legal powers to deal with violence and crime directed towards buses, but the minister felt that the police have enough powers.

And Peter Bell, director of Preston Bus, said: "We do get a problem every so often, and the proposals are certainly ones I would have asked for."

James Hustler, director of Fishwick buses, who run services throughout the area, agreed with the plans but said they had not had any problems.

Graham Stevenson, national organiser for the TGWU, said he was satisfied the Government was set to reduce all violent crime but he warned: "If the current situation of attacks to our members does not improve, we shall not hesitate to demand further measures."