The scale of attacks on First Bradford buses is appalling. It is a source of shame that the city should be the worst for assaults on staff and acts of vandalism among all the First Group bus companies in Yorkshire.

In June alone, 63 separate First Bradford vehicles were damaged, costing the company almost £20,000 in repairs. This is simply not acceptable, either to the company or to the bus users who are bound, in the long run, to have to bear at least some of the cost of this vandalism through higher fares.

It is also the passengers who suffer if decisions are taken to remove buses from those routes where there is the highest chance of attacks. People without cars can be greatly inconvenienced and some can be made to feel very isolated if they are unable to get out and about.

But the greatest danger is that drivers and passengers risk being injured when missiles are hurled at buses. In a recent incident, schoolchildren were showered with flying glass when yobs hurled a lump of concrete through the window of a bus operating a school service. How long before someone is seriously injured or killed by this sort of reckless, destructive behaviour?

The pilot scheme being launched by First Bradford and Crimestoppers to reward people for informing on the law-breakers in confidence is an interesting innovation which deserves to be supported. The £100 reward should surely help to persuade even those who regard passing on such information as "grassing" to do their duty as good citizens.