Extra CCTV Cameras to Be Installed on County's School Buses to Monitor Pupils' Poor Behaviour.

School pupils' anti-social behaviour on Stroud's buses is to be tackled by installing more CCTV cameras on the school buses themselves.

Six secondary schools in the area are taking part in a six-month trial.

If the pilot scheme is successful, it will extended to all school buses in Gloucestershire for a further six months with a view to rolling it out across the whole of the county's public transport network

Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire Police are teaming up to make it easier for bus operators to report incidents caught on film by installing the extra cameras.

The county council is allocating £40,000 with a similar amount to come from operators, to provide the additional cameras.

Local councillor Stan Waddington, the Cabinet member for environment, said: “Anti-social behaviour on school transport is not something we are prepared to accept and we want anyone who is tempted to misbehave on their journey to or from school to know they won't get away with it. Better still if we can convince pupils, where it's necessary, to change their behaviour.”

The police are already starting working with Year Seven pupils to design a poster about the project.

Pc Nicola Dannatt said, “This is an exciting joint initiative that enables the pupils to take responsibility for making their journey to and from school safer for themselves and their school friends.”

The scheme is based on a model developed by Transport for London to address crime and anti-social behaviour.