A BUS company is concerned someone will be injured after vandals threw a missile at one of their coaches.

A teenage boy threw the unknown object at the front of the coach, before running off along with another youth. The windscreen will need to be replaced on the coach, operated by G and S Travel, of Pysons Road, Ramsgate.

Partner Shirley Rimmer said: “We still don’t know what was thrown but it caused a lot of damage, and will cost around £500 to put right. But what is more worrying is the risks children take to do this sort of thing.”

The incident, in Hartsdown Road, Margate, is the third to have struck the company in recent years. On an earlier occasion, a coach driver jumped out of his bus and caught the teenager responsible.

The driver involved in the latest incident, Malcolm Wood, tried to catch the youths involved but they escaped.

Mrs Rimmer added: "Luckily, the bus had only two passengers, but it had just finished dropping off some children from a special school. They would have been extremely frightened by the incident. Had the driver not remained calm, it could have been much worse.”

Mrs Rimmer praised the actions of Mr Wood, who has been with the firm for more than 15 years. She said: ”Malcolm has had this happen before, and did not swerve to avoid the missile, but a younger driver may have panicked.

“A mother and her young children were nearby, and she said they would have been in danger, had the bus left the road. When Malcolm phoned me to tell me what had happened, he was still shaking.”

Thanet Police have condemned the attack and launched an investigation.