‘Trojan horse’ bus tackles anti-social behaviour

Northumbria police and crime commissioner (PCC) Kim McGuinness said she planned to "get the bus out as often as we can and break up bad behaviour and improve people's feelings of safety".

She said: "Officers can't give too much away but the idea is it could pull up anywhere, anytime - packed with police passengers ready to take action."

The bus' first deployment centred on North Marine Park and South Shields Interchange.

The project involves a number of agencies including Northumbria Police, Stagecoach, Metro operator Nexus, the PCC and local authorities.

The plan is to roll it out across the region in the coming months.