After boys arrested over bus fire and alleged assault of driver, locals speak out on scourge of anti-social behaviour

PEOPLE say they are scared to walk home at night due to gangs of youths causing chaos on buses in part of south Liverpool.

- By JAMIE GREER

Those living near the bus route that terminates at Morrisons supermarket on Penketh Drive say they have become used to services being axed due to antisocial behaviour.

Last week, bus services were suspended again after Merseyside Police responded to a report that a group of youths had started a fire on the upstairs deck of a bus parked outside the supermarket.

The group managed to escape when the bus driver went upstairs.

When he confronted them outside, he was reportedly assaulted and had his glasses broken.

The bus driver managed to drive away without injury.

Two 13-year-old boys from Speke have since been arrested on suspicion of assault and attempted criminal damage. They have been conditionally bailed pending enquiries.

The ECHO published an extensive report a year ago about gangs of children as young as 10 making residents’ lives a misery in Speke, with reports that they were “setting fire to buses, blocking roads and launching fireworks at traffic”.

But despite recent events, Chief Inspector Nathan Stockley said yesterday that such incidents have become less common since then.

Yesterday, Gillian Mather spoke to the ECHO outside the Morrisons supermarket.

She said that when buses are suspended, she worries for her own safety in the area at night as she faces a half-hour walk home.