A coachload of commuters had a narrow escape when the windscreen of their vehicle was smashed to pieces by a teenager throwing rocks onto the A406 North Circular Road.

The shocked passengers only avoided serious injury thanks to the quick-thinking of the driver who managed to pull the seven-ton vehicle to safety in a lay-by off Charlie Brown's roundabout, despite having practically no visibility.

Two lorry drivers were also fortunate to escape unharmed when the same youngster threw bricks and stones at their cabs as they gained speed along the slip road to the M11, smashing their windows and forcing them to slam on their breaks.

The incident caused long tailbacks on the dual carriageway after Transport Police officers closed the road to tow the stricken vehicles to safety.

Parks Police constable, Bob Butcher and colleague, Andy Cole, were first on the scene in the aftermath of the attacks on Wednesday, May 21, and questioned a group of youngsters they saw standing near the spot where the rocks were thrown.

PC Butcher who himself used to drive lorries said that in his experience nine out ten times an incident like this would have ended in tragedy. He added : "This was a potentially devastating incident, because if one of these big vehicles crashed then there could have been a huge pile up.

advertisement"It was only a matter of luck that no-one was hurt or even killed in this incident. It was an incredibly stupid and dangerous thing to do.

"We questioned the kids about what happened and said we needed to know who threw the rocks or else they might all be implicated.

"They eventually gave us the name and address of the person responsible, and we passed the details on to Redridge police."

Fellow Parks Police officer, Sgt Gordon McKinnon, said: "The kid involved did a huge amount of damage with the rocks he threw, and its just lucky we are not talking about someone being killed here.

"The worst thing is he probably doesn't really understand how close he came to hurting someone.

"I'm pleased our lads were on hand to get the information needed to track the boy in question down." A spokesman for Redbridge Police said that no arrests had made in connection with the incident.