Schoolchildren's coach pelted with bricks

A group of Tenbury schoolchildren has narrowly escaped injury after the coach they were travelling in was pelted with half bricks and stones, police said today.

The 36 youngsters and four staff members from Tenbury High School were returning from a French exchange trip when vandals threw missiles at the coach causing £3,000 of damage.

It happened in Hallow at about 9.30pm on Friday, just half an hour away from its destination in Tenbury Wells. None of the people on the coach were injured.

Now police in Tenbury are trying to trace two or three youths, whose actions caused damage to three side windows of the three-month- old £250,000 vehicle on the A453.

Stuart Cooke, headteacher of Tenbury High School, said: "They were coming back from a French exchange trip and as they were coming through Hallow their bus was pelted with half bricks by people in the street.

"There was quite a lot of damage to the coach but not to the people inside but they were quite shaken up.

"They were absolutely terrified. There they were having come back from a really nice visit to France and everything had gone really well.

"Out of the blue they found themselves being randomly targeted by vandals."

Anyone with information should call 0300 333 3000.