YOUNGSTERS have been blamed for a series of incidents in the first three days of the school holidays -- despite a police campaign to crack down on juvenile nuisance.

In the first incident police were forced to stop and search a school bus after reports of a youngster on board brandishing a gun -- just hours after the schools had finished for the half-term break.

Darwen police have also had to deal with a vandalism attack at a primary school and damage to cars, all of which they put down to youngsters.

On Friday afternoon, the 99 bus from St Wilfrid's High School, Blackburn, was stopped and cleared by police after a passer-by thought a youth was brandishing a gun onboard.

A search of all the passengers found two passengers had pellet guns which they had been firing from the window.

Later that night, two windows were damaged at St Peter's Primary School, Turncroft Road, after vandals had smashed a wooden bench in front of them.

Five cars were damaged on London Terrace. Two Vauxhall Cavaliers, two Nissan Micras and a Seat had body panels kicked in, wing mirrors smashed and body work scratched on Friday and Saturday nights.

A further incident on Kay Street, when £100 of damage was caused to a blue Ford Focus which had body panels kicked, may also be related.

After the latest incident of vandalism, Frank Jeffs, headteacher at St Peter's, asked parents to keep tabs on their children's whereabouts.

"I would imagine that most of the time some parents don't know where their children are. There must be some parental responsibility." said Mr Jeffs.

This is the fifth incident of damage at the school this winter, and Mr Jeffs says the amount the school is having to pay for repairs is affecting his pupils' education. "We have had to pay out thousands of pounds to replace windows," he said.

"In one area it has got to the point where we have put wood in place because it is less likely to be kicked through.

"That could have paid for two new computer systems or books for the library.

"I have to find the money from somewhere as it comes out of our budget, not the council's.

"On some occasions the children have not been able to go in because some clearing up has to be done. When they see what other people do to their room, they get really upset, particularly the younger children."

As well as damaging the building, vandals have also attacked the school's new £8,500 adventure playground with a hammer.

In the week leading to the half-term break, area policemen from Darwen visited every school in the town to speak to them about their social responsibilities.

Patrols have also been stepped up in the parks and woodland at night to help tackle youth nuisance, reports of which rose by 50 per cent at this time last year.

A spokesman for Stagecoach Ribble, which runs the 99 service, confirmed an incident had taken place but said it was purely a police matter and the driver did not know until the bus was stopped.

Inspector Tracie O'Gara of Darwen Police confirmed the circumstances of the bus incident.

She said: "We are pressing ahead with the initiative this week and hope that overall reports and incidents will be lower than at this time last year."

No-one from St Wilfrid's School was available for comment. TARGET: Frank Jeffs, head at St Peter's, surveys the latest damage