Police patrolled bus routes to catch vandals after a string of attacks, one of which injured a student in the eye.

Uniformed officers have been travelling on buses in Lewes Road, Brighton, over the weekend.

A snooker ball was hurled at a number 25 bus as it travelled north near Wild Park in the incident, shattering a side window.

The student hurt in the attack needed hospital treatment for cuts to his face caused by flying glass.

Inspector Nathan Evans said Brighton police had mounted Operation Stingray to deter any further attacks in the Lewes Road area after dark.

He said: "We are determined that Brighton bus drivers should be able to go about their business safely.

"We treat it very seriously because there is obviously tremendous potential for injury."

Vandals threw bricks at three other buses in different parts of Brighton and Hove last week, in one incident showering a driver with glass.

Those attacks happened in Sackville Avenue, Hove, and Carden Avenue and Beaconsfield Villas, both in Brighton.

Police are investigating all four incidents and are looking into whether attacks on moving cars are linked to the bus incidents.

Insp Evans said: "There has been a spate around the Preston Park and Stanford Road areas of stones being thrown through windscreens and this may or may not be linked to the attacks on buses."

Roger French, managing director of Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, said the consequences of a bus careering out of control if one of the drivers was hit did not bear thinking about.

He said: "I think the patrols are a really good idea and a good way to possibly catch the perpetrators. We will give the police our full support."

No incidents were reported during the weekend.