From:
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/ne..._the_buses.php

Terror on the buses
By Linda Piper


A COMMUTER has described how he was caught up in a riot of drunken teenagers
on his way home from work.

The 64-year-old City worker described how he and two other adults were
trapped on a 233 bus crammed with youngsters which was then attacked by more
than 50 other drunken youths who surrounded the bus and forced it to a
standstill.

Bexley police were flooded with calls from the public at 6.45pm on February
15, as the woman bus driver tried to prevent the bus from being stormed.

The man got on the single-decker bus at Sidcup station on his way home from
work.

He quickly realised it was already crammed with teenagers who were drinking
from cans of beer and passing whisky and vodka bottles between them.

The bus turned into Faraday Avenue, where a crowd of other youngsters were
at the bus stop.

They surged into the road to force the bus to stop. They then started
banging on the windscreen because the driver would not open the doors.

"So they kicked the doors open and surged onto the bus," he said. "The noise
was incredible and the bus was heaving."

He said while the bus driver called for help on her mobile phone, some of
the youngsters were forced off the bus because it was so packed.

"Those on the bus stood on the seats punching the roof and swinging on the
straps trying to kick out the windows.

"And those outside were kicking the bus and headbutting it, also trying to
smash the windows."

Several young passengers began slashing the seats with knives while others
were trying to etch the bus windows.

As he and the other terrified adults tried to stay calm, he said some of the
youngsters then starting attacking nearby cars jumping up and down on them.

He added: "They broke into one and started flashing its lights and sounding
the horn.

"They broke the bus's emergency doors and then started lashing out at
passing vehicles."

Eventually a police van arrived, but there were only two officers.

"They decided all they could do was protect the driver," he claimed.

The City worker and two fellow passengers managed to escape the bus and get
on a following 492.

A group of about 10 of the young people had moved to the next bus stop in
Station Road and tried to get on the 492 but were ordered off by the driver.

"When we got to Sidcup High Street there was another rampaging crowd of
young people at the bus stop throwing bottles and cans and the driver
wouldn't stop," he said.

"I have seen riots on television and in London but in my worst nightmare I
couldn't imagine anything like this happening."

He said some of the girls were as young as 12.

"They were apparently all going to an under-18 disco at Deja Vu in Swanley
and had decided to get tanked up beforehand.

"There was nothing the two police officers could do. They were so violent.
People have no idea what is going on in Sidcup these days."

Police confirmed a window was smashed on a second bus in nearby Longlands
Road about 20 minutes later.


10:10am Wednesday 23rd February 2005