A bus window was shattered after a rock was launched at it while passengers were still on board.
The number 31 bus service was travelling along Newton Road in St Helens at around 6.10pm yesterday, when one of the windows was struck by a rock.
Photos of the aftermath show a hole in one of the bus side windows and shattered glass on the seats.
READ MORE: Drivers warned over rule change when approaching roundabouts
John Lee was one of the passengers on the bus at the time of the incident and said other passengers were left ‘in shock’ by the attack.
He told the ECHO: “We were just sitting there on the bus when all of a sudden a huge rock was thrown at the window which completely smashed the bus window.
“The rock then fell onto the bus floor and rolled down to the front of the bus. The bus driver was forced to pull over and report what happened.
“We were told to move to the front of the bus in case the glass smashed even more. Everyone was in shock when it happened because the rock would have seriously hurt someone if they were sitting there and not to mention the glass that would have gone right into their face.”
Writing about the incident on a community Facebook page, John said it was a ‘good job’ no passengers were sat on the side of the bus which was hit by the rock.
The St Helens man said the bus stopped temporarily so the driver could report the incident, but continued on its usual route to St Helens bus station.
A spokesperson for Arriva told the ECHO the incident was one of a number of antisocial occurrences reported yesterday which resulted in the company making the decision to divert their evening services in the area after 6pm.
The spokesperson said: “‘We have had a number of instances of antisocial behaviour during the evening in the area of Fleet Lane in Parr on our service 31, due to this we have taken the decision to divert the service after 6pm at Parr Stocks Road onto Chancery Lane, Broad Oak Road and Derbyshire Hill Road in both directions and this will be until further notice.
"We do not tolerate any incidents of antisocial behaviour. We are working closely with Travel-Safe and the local authorities to try and alleviate the poor behaviour, all incidents have been reported to the police and CCTV has been downloaded."
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police confirmed the incident was reported to them and said fortunately nobody was injured in the attack.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police via DM at @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 22000041947.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
