Councillor claims youth crime “gone beyond a joke” in West Leeds as stones thrown at buses

The number 15 bus, which runs from Farnley to Logic Business Park in east Leeds, via the city, has been targeted with missiles, local councillor David Blackburn said.

The service is run by First, who’ve been contacted for comment about the claims.

Conservative councillor Amanda Carter said the incidents were a symptom of a wider problem with youth crime in west Leeds, which she claimed has “gone beyond a joke” and is intimidating residents.

Teens from affluent areas as well as deprived ones are responsible for the troubles, a meeting of the council’s outer west community committee heard.

Speaking during a debate about CCTV, Councillor Blackburn, who represents the Farnley and Wortley area for the Green Party told the committee: “We’ve had some problems recently with the number 15, with people chucking stones at it on an evening.”

The committee chair, Councillor Carter, who represents Calverley and Farsley, said she and others were “really unhappy with the amount of anti-social behaviour in our wards.”

She said: “We are taking the police to task about this.

“It’s not good enough. Especially with the summer holidays coming up, we must make sure that kids are distracted. If they’re not distracted, there must be a clampdown because they can’t be allowed to throw stones at buses.

“It’s beyond a joke and people are so frightened they’re not able to leave their homes sometimes.”

Councillor Carter later said there were “two groups” of youths responsible for causing trouble, one of which she said came from “affluent homes”.

She added: “They’re just bored and they think it’s fine to go and smoke cannabis and annoy neighbours and that kind of thing.

“Ther’s another group of kids who are from another part of our ward who are under-privileged. These are kids that I really worry about, because some of them won’t be in education. If they’re not in education then they can be lost.

“This is where youth services comes in. We’ve got to try to reach those kids first.