A drive to tackle vandalism on Birmingham’s buses has seen all ten city MPs write to magistrates demanding tougher sentences.
The campaign by National Express West Midlands comes after revelations the firm shells out over £1 million a year to pay for damage caused by vandals on the region’s bus network.
With some fines handed out by magistrates not even covering the damage, the firm has vowed to pursue tougher sentences, including prison terms, for repeat offenders – a handful of whom are thought to cause the most damage.
Now city MPs have penned a letter to Birmingham magistrates calling for the toughest possible sentences to be handed out.
Jack Dromey (Lab, Erdington) said: “Our message is simple, vandalising buses and bus stops is wrong and people who carry out this pointless act should face tough consequences. Their actions have a negative impact on Birmingham’s image and the vast majority of people are sick of them.”
Andrew Mitchell (Cons, Sutton Coldfield), added: “These mindless acts of vandalism not only cost over a million pounds a year, they also have a negative affect on our area’s image. The vast majority of people on our city’s buses are law-abiding individuals who want to see these vandals made to pay.”
As part of the campaign, National Express has launched a ‘See Something Say Something’ initiative urging passengers to report anti-social behaviour on buses anonymously so travel cops can target hot spots.
Peter Coates, chief executive of the company, said: “We have worked hard to cut on-board anti social behaviour and crime by 61 per cent over the last five years.
“However, we know that the appearance of some of our vehicles is being negatively affected by the actions of a handful of mindless vandals.
“We are working closely with the police to tackle this problem and have had great success recently in bringing these vandals to court. We are delighted that local MPs are backing our calls for fines to better represent the cost of the damage caused.”
