INCIDENTS of children misbehaving and vandalising buses to and from school have been cut by half, say transport and education chiefs in Bournemouth.

They cite the introduction of new photo bus passes as one of the reasons behind the dramatic fall in pupils' unruly behaviour.

But bosses at Yellow Buses argue the improvement in conduct is only slight, and claim some routes as well as children from certain schools are still causing problems.

The company has been trying to combat yobbish behaviour from children, school pupils and adults attacking drivers, vandalising buses, and causing a nuisance to passengers.

All pupils from a Bournemouth secondary were briefly banned from all services due to bad behaviour and services were withdrawn from some areas, including Townsend and parts of Southbourne, due to problems with groups of youths.

But according to borough transport manager Brian Langridge new bus passes introduced in September to school children entitled to free travel, has seen a 50 per cent fall in reports of incidents on Yellow Buses.

Some 800 passes have been issued this year.

"They are a deterrent because they contain the child's photo so they can be easily identified," said Mr Langridge.

"Also it stops the children handing over the passes to their friends to use. The new passes are just part of the work we have been doing to improve behaviour.

"There's now also an inter-agency policy with police, schools, and the bus company which means we are better at keeping each other informed about incidents and can nip things in the bud far quicker."

Head of operations at Yellow Buses, Bill Bishop, agreed that communication between parties was improved and that the passes helped stop misuse by children.

But he said only a small proportion of pupils had the new passes and that behaviour generally was only marginally better.

"We still have problems with certain schools and routes," he said.

First published: May 7