A BUS company owner has hit out after youths threw stones and smashed the window of a vehicle for the second time in recent weeks.

The Blackburn Private Hire vehicle was targeted by youths on Saturday who threw stones and rocks at the bus several times as it passed.

At around 2pm one of the windows of the 12A bus was smashed by a rock in Newfield Drive, Blackburn.

This was the second time in recent weeks the bus has had a window smashed, with a similar incident happening two weeks ago last Wednesday.

Leesa Vogt, who owns Blackburn Private Hire, warned they may have to stop running services if vehicles keep getting damaged.

She said: “It’s really disappointing to see. The kids kept popping up and throwing stones and then running off.

“It’s dangerous, luckily nobody was sat there and got hurt, but the driver was really shaken up.

“It’s really frustrating. They don’t realise the implications.

“When the window gets smashed it means we need to take the bus off the road.

“It affects people travelling, people shopping, just because of their vandalism.

“We’re a popular service, and most users are pensioners and older people.

“If it’s going to be a regular occurrence we’re going to have to look at cancelling services.”

She said the driver spotted three young people who were throwing the stones at the bus.

Blackburn Private Hire Ltd bus service runs routes such as the 12A, 12C, 10 and 3 around the Blackburn area, such as Higher Croft.

The company has two buses which operate on the different routes and owners said they hoped repairs would be done so the damaged vehicle could run today.

The incident has been reported to the police who are investigating the vandalism.