POLICE could be sent on to school buses to crack down on troublemakers as part of a radical move being considered by education bosses.

The move comes following a rise in complaints from bus companies and other passengers about vandalism and bad behaviour in Blackburn and Darwen.

The situation has become so bad that pupils are to be warned that officers could soon be patrolling school services in a bid to keep unruly youngsters in check

Levels of vandalism are steadily increasing and in some cases it is understood that bus operators are having to pay more than £1,000 a week to repair damaged vehicles. Some vehicles have been so badly vandalised that they are being taken off the road for safety reasons.

In the worst cases windows have been kicked out and bus seats thrown at passing motorists.

An increasing amount of valuable teaching time is also being spent sorting out incidents on school buses and dealing with complaints from the public.

Town hall bosses in Blackburn took control of school services more than two years ago and have been alarmed by the level of disruption and vandalism. They are also worried that the cost of school transport will soar if the situation is not brought under control.

The council has even set up a special working group to try to bring the young troublemakers into line.

Bus companies, council officials and police bosses are involved in the working group, which has been meeting for several months.

The group has drawn up a draft code of conduct for pupils using school buses will be launched at the start of the next school year and posters publicising the code will be displayed in schools and buses.

The message will also be hammered home in schools and if necessary the police will start to patrol buses to make sure the rules are enforced.

Drivers will also be given special training to help them cope with difficult situations and badly behaved children.

A spokesman for Lancashire police said: "Historically we have had problems on school services.

"If Blackburn with Darwen Council feels that action needs to be taken we will only to happy to support them."

The problem will be discussed when the council's education and training committee meets on Wednesday.

A council report on the school buses reads: "The Director of Education and Training and the Director of Technical Services have received a significant number of complaints from the contractors and members of the public regarding the behaviour of school pupils, both on school services and scheduled bus routes.

"In addition to these complaints the bus companies, most notably Blackburn Transport, have incurred a number of incidents where considerable damage and vandalism has taken place on school transport."

Blackburn Transport, one of the worse affected companies, did not want to comment on the situation.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.