Staff assaults rise
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• Bus operators are stepping up measures to protect their drivers and conductors following a series of assaults on staff.
London Buses, which installed driver screens in 1986, plans to fit improved screens covering a larger area of the cab in all of its 4,300 frontloading vehicles by September.
It also plans to equip its fleet of over 5,000 vehicles with louder assault alarms by the end of April, and is fitting more vehicles with video cameras.
Last year there were 896 assaults on staff, up 9% on 1988. The most vulnerable staff are those on its 760 openplatform Routemasters — two weeks ago one of its conductors was attacked by three youths with a broken glass near Pimlico in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. In 1987 one of its conductors was fatally stabbed.
The problem is not confined to urban routes.
Lothian Region Transport is to fit screens in 500 of its 565 vehicles at a cost of £150,000, and it has taken delivery of 36 double-deck Leyland Olympians which are already fitted with screens.
The Transport and General Workers' Union is pleased with the bus operators' actions, but says some companies could increase the number of security cameras on buses. Included in the sale are minibuses, Leyland Nationals and four Optare StarRiders.
B&D will continue with its contracts for British Coal, British Steel and Barnsley Social Services; commercial services will be integrated or rationalised with those of Traction.