NEWPORT Transport boss Trevor Roberts is warning vandals new CCTV cameras installed on the city's buses are proving a help in prosecuting offenders.

Mr Roberts said a recent prosecution in which magistrates ordered a teenager to pay Newport Transport compensation for wilfully damaging bus window seals was a sign that new security measures were helping catch vandals on buses.

Mr Roberts said: "We went to great lengths to report this matter to the police and push for prosecution.

"We are delighted that after many years of reporting vandalism and broken windows with no action being taken, that this case has been successfully concluded."

The youth was prosecuted following an incident on a school bus in March when a seal on a window was damaged at a cost of more than £270.

It came just days after a teenage boy from St Joseph's School in Newport fell through a window on the upper deck of a bus on to a busy road.

Mr Roberts said: "The company is now fitting CCTV cameras to its vehicles as the images are so clear that the police can use them for identification purposes.

"Newport Transport will seek to prosecute any individual caught damaging property or attempting to damage, or vandalising its vehicles and property, particularly as such acts have a detrimental effect on its customers."

Over the past year, the company has invested heavily in specially-designed school buses after experiencing problems with vandalism.

The yellow buses which cost up to £100,000 each are specially modified, with designated seats for each pupil and cameras on board.