Thamesdown say cameras have cut vandalism

Five double decker buses in the town will be fitted with eight closed circuit cameras.

Swindon Borough Council says the �15,000 investment is justified and the programme could be extended if the trial is successful.

The council believes most school buses are safe already, but recently there have been some serious cases of bad behaviour in the town.

Thamesdown Transport, which operates the school bus service, has had CCTV cameras fitted to its other buses for two years and claims it has cut vandalism.

John Owen, from Thamesdown Transport, says the cameras are used to identify culprits after an incident: "We do have the odd incident of bad behaviour - incidents such as seats being slashed, and things thrown from the top of the bus.

"It is important that these issues are followed up to try and prevent it happening again in the future."