TRANSPORT chiefs have offered cash for information about a shotgun attack on a York bus.

The £1,000 reward offer from the bus company, First, and the bus drivers' union, the TGWU, comes after another First driver was involved in a gun drama in the city centre.

And it follows a further TWO violent incidents last night in which buses were targeted by yobs.

Police arrested two men yesterday after a First driver reported seeing a man pointing a gun out of a car window as he drove across Ouse Bridge.

Armed officers discovered it had been a pellet gun.

In Chapelfields last night, a vehicle was damaged as youths held a wire or rope in front of it, and in Danebury Drive, Acomb, a bus was bricked.

Less than a week ago a man fired a shotgun and damaged the windscreen of a vehicle operated by First.

First's operations manager, Paul Bell, said today posters were going up in the company's buses offering £1,000 for information. Driver's union TGWU has put up half the money.

First drivers called an impromptu strike on Sunday after the shotgun attack in Huntington on Saturday night, eager to make sure the safety of themselves and passengers was being taken seriously. Yesterday's incident did not directly involve First, said Mr Bell.

He said the driver had just reported to police that he had seen the man pointing the gun at another vehicle.

But he said other attacks on buses had occurred last night, following months of almost daily attacks.

Chief Inspector Howard Harding, of York Police, today warned that the full force of the law will be applied to stop the attacks.

He said: "There seems to be an emerging trend that people think buses are fair game, and that is a trend that we must break. The law should be fully and vigorously applied. This is an absolutely foolish thing to do and if people continue to behave in this way, they need to know that they will face the full weight of the law."

In a separate development, a bus driver accused of a road rage attack in the centre of York was dismissed by First today.

The man, who has not been identified by the company, had been arrested by police following claims he had assaulted a car driver between Ouse Bridge and George Hudson Street.

Mr Bell said: "We had no alternative. It is absolutely gross misconduct for a driver to get off the bus and assault a member of public and he had to be dismissed." The driver has a right of appeal.

"I would like to see action taken that brings home that message."

Updated: 10:52 Friday, March 22, 2002