Bus stoning stats 'unacceptable'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/8544602.stm

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Buses in Northern Ireland are attacked with stones at a rate of more than one a day, official figures have revealed.

The statistics issued by the Department of Regional Development show that there have been 416 such attacks on Translink buses since April last year.

The union Unite, which represents a large number of Translink drivers, has said the figures show the difficulties they face.

The figures were obtained by the SDLP MLA Thomas Burns.

He said: "It's not pensioners who are stoning these buses. The people who are doing it are young people and it has to be got through to them, through the schools, that it is totally and absolutely unacceptable."

Last month, teenagers were cut by flying glass after an attack on a bus on Oldpark Road in north Belfast.

In the wake of the attack, Unite said it would consider withdrawing its drivers unless more was done to address the problem.