BUS users in Illogan have been left stranded after children shining laser pens into drivers' eyes led the operators to cancel evening services.

Operator First has refused to stop at Illogan Churchtown and the Platt after 7pm on weekdays and 6pm at weekends after drivers repeatedly had hand-held laser pens shone in their eyes, they think by children.

First has re-routed the evening service, completely missing out Illogan, citing safety concerns including several incidents where youngsters have thrown rocks at moving buses.

Until the issue is resolved, the nearest bus stop for people wishing to travel during the evenings will be Park Bottom.

Spokesman Stuart Render said: "Some people may think First are over-reacting to this, but what they need to understand is that these incidents are putting our staff and passengers at risk, not to mention the public at large.

"Blinding a driver whilst he is control of a bus could have terrible consequences and we simply cannot allow this to happen," he said.

"There will be people in Illogan and people on the bus who know who the perpetrators are and we urge them to come forward so we can resolve this issue. Cancelling a service is not something we do lightly. We regret any inconvenience to passengers in Illogan and hope that they can resume as quickly as possible," he added.

Neighbourhood beat manager for Illogan and Portreath, PC Tim Roberts, said police were aware of the problem and taking it very seriously.

Mr Roberts said that just before Christmas the police had confiscated laser pens from children in the village.

He and other officers would be working hard to catch and prosecute anyone responsible for stone throwing or shining lasers at buses.

Anyone who has information can contact Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111.