Maidenhead & Windsor

Bus drivers are to boycott a Maidenhead housing estate, after an incident in which a brick was hurled through the windscreen of a coach.

The brick shattered the windscreen, sending shards of glass flying. The driver - a woman in her 40s - escaped with cuts and bruises. She managed to stop the bus without being involved in a collision. But she is in a state of shock.

There was only one passenger on board the coach, and they were not injured.

Now police officers may travel on board buses in plain clothes in order to try to catch the attackers.

Drivers with Courtney Coaches, which runs buses on the route, have now imposed a ban on driving across Maidenhead's Woodlands Park estate at night.

From Thursday, they will not be driving through Woodlands Park Estate after 6 pm.

Jackie Matthews, liaison manager for Courtney Coaches said that they have CCTV images of three youths before the incident.

The attack occurred at around 8pm on Wednesday night, as the bus turned out of Halifax Way and back into Courtney Road, Maidenhead.

She is convinced that the attack was premeditated and not just vandalism.

Jackie said: "I think that the CCTV images show them watching the bus come by and then waiting for it to return."

An extra service, which the company was due to start operating from the cinemas in Maidenhead town centre to the Woodlands Park estate from 10pm has been scrapped.

The drivers have also said they will not drive across the Woodlands Park estate after 6pm.

Jackie said: "The drivers have just said they will no longer do it."

The attack on the coach is the eighth incident involving Courtney Coaches over the past three months - all of them took place in the Larchfield estate area. The incidents have also seen seven drivers resign from the company.

Inspector Steve Hunt - who is neighbourhood inspector for Maidenhead - said: "Throwing objects at buses is an extremely dangerous thing to do and we will take strong action against the perpetrators.

"We are aware that there have been a number of attacks on buses in the Maidenhead area, and we are treating them very seriously."

He said that the police are working closely with the bus company, to try to take a range of actions to resolve the problem.

"These include having uniformed and plain clothes officers travelling on the buses, as well as other tactics."

The company would like to hear from anyone who might have seen any of the incidents. You can contact Courtney Coaches on 01344 412302 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

ic Berkshire ~ Maidenhead