THUGS who hurled missiles from a footbridge over the M62 in Bury are being hunted by police.

In two separate incidents, the windscreen of a coach was smashed and a car window shattered.

Remarkably, in both cases, each driver escaped injury.

The first incident involved a coachload of disabled people returning home to Bury and Helmshore after a trip to Lourdes, France.

At 11.30pm on Friday August 1, the vehicle's windscreen was struck by a missile, shattering the window.

The driver was able to continue on to Birch Services where he reported the vandalism attack to police.

Damage to the coach, which is owned by a Warrington-based company, was put at £3,000. Police have been unable to pinpoint which footbridge in the Bury area was used by the thugs.

The second missile-throwing incident happened at 2.55am on Tuesday, August 12, at Philips Park between junctions 17 and 18 of the M62.

A car windscreen was smashed but the driver, believed to live in the Stockport area, escaped injury. Damage is estimated at £200.

Anyone with information about any of the incidents should ring Bury police crime management unit on 856 8157.

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