A BUS company maybe forced to axe one of its routes because its buses are being repeatedly attacked by yobs.

Passengers narrowly escaped injury after a gang of kids as young as eight pelted a 73a double decker bus with stones, smashing an upstairs window and causing £500 of damage.

Nobody was hurt in the attack, which happened at 7.15pm as the bus travelled past King George’s Field, in Feenan Highway, Tilbury.

But bosses at bus company Ensign say attacks are becoming more common and they may have to consider withdrawing the service.

Paul Dickson, customer service manager, said: “We have CCTV images of a group of around five kids, aged between eight and 11, throwing stones at the bus as it passes the park.

“One of the stones smashed the window, which put it out of service.

“There were passengers on board the bus at the time, but luckily neither they nor the driver were hurt.

“It’s happened quite a few times on this service and in the same area.

“It is getting to the point where we cannot carry on like this and we may have to consider withdrawing the service.”

The bus was close to the end of its route when the attack happened and a replacement was sent out. The company has been forced to axe the 22 service in the past because of similar problems.

Mr Dickson added: “We cannot put the safety of our drivers and passengers at risk.

“We do not want passengers to miss journeys because buses are out of action because of this type of incident.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “The suspects are described as white, aged between eight and ten, and one of them was riding a blue bike.”

Contact police at Tilbury on 101.