Police will ramp up their protection of buses in parts of south Essex following a spate of vandalism.

Officers in Thurrock will be riding on buses in both uniform and plain clothing in an attempt to catch the culprits.

It comes following an increase in incidents where the vehicles have been hit by objects thrown from the roadside.

Police say in some instances, this has led to broken windows.

Some buses will also be followed by police vehicles as further reassurance.

The operation was explained in a post on Facebook where officers wrote: “Our community policing team have set up an operation to tackle a series of incidents whereby objects have been thrown at moving buses throughout the Thurrock district, with some causing significant damage such as broken glass windows.

“You will see our officers on the affected bus routes in both full uniform and plain clothes with marked and unmarked vehicles following nearby.

“This allows us to be ready to act should further incidents occur.

“We hope this provides some reassurance to everyone who uses buses and will make anyone considering causing damage to think twice about their actions.”