A WOMAN passenger had a lucky escape after teenagers fired pellets at a bus and smashed the window.

The woman, thought to be in her 60s, escaped injury from flying shards of glass on the Darwen Coach Services' single-decker heading for Birch Hall.

The vehicle was travelling along Blackburn Road, Darwen, at around 4.30pm on Tuesday when the driver heard a loud bang, and claimed to see two youths, aged about 13, laughing nearby. Police said they suspected the teenagers had fired a pellet from an air gun. Tim Paley, Darwen Coach Services' traffic manager, said the replica weapon had been used to terrify the bus's passengers. He was called to the scene to comfort the woman and said she was in a state of shock.

He said: "The woman was next to the window and was very lucky as the glass flew inches away from her head. We get a lot of kids throwing eggs and water bombs at our buses but this is the first time pellets have been fired.

"We had a spare window back at our garage and replaced it, so the bus was not out of service for long."

The 4ft by 2ft window cost £200 to replace. There was one other passenger on the bus who left to walk home before police reached the scene.

Sgt Andrea Bradbury, of Darwen police, said: "Witnesses said there were youths aged 13 to 14 seen in the area, one wearing a red and the other a navy top.

"The window smashed into the bus, but luckily no one was hurt. There have been a number of problems in that part of town from juveniles."

The incident follows a warning from police to youngsters using replica guns which fire plastic pellets. Chief Supt John Thompson said armed response officers could mistake them for genuine weapons and shoot to protect the public.

He was commenting after a pensioner had pellets fired at him in Broadway in Accrington.

The guns cost as little as £5 and are sold legally across East Lancashire, although trading standards have warned traders to be wary of selling them to youngsters because of incidents such as this.