THERE are jobs in this life which take workers into areas where they can expect to face a level of intimidation or threat akin to being on a front line of some kind.

But being the person who ferries people around the community isn't one of them - unless you're a Boomerang Bus driver in Dines Green, it seems.

The events outlined on today's Front Page are alarming in isolation, but even more so when you recall that such trouble's been happening, on and off, for eight years or more.

Three years ago, Boomerang decided to vary the times of buses on some routes in an attempt to dodge missiles. They did so knowing the effect it would have on the public.

Three years before that, they'd faced the same threat and considered bowing to the thugs altogether. They didn't, thank goodness.

Now bus company boss Nick Warner has given notice that the trouble-makers may have finally triggered a problem for the whole estate.

"Every day, we're having bricks and eggs thrown at us," he says. "Now somebody's shooting at my drivers... I wouldn't expect them to do a route if they didn't feel safe."

Most pointedly, he fears: "Somebody is going to be killed."

That may sound dramatic, particularly to the mindless idiots who draw perverse satisfaction from their attacks.

However, it isn't hard to imagine a sequence of events leading to us reporting a tragedy, not a scare, next time.

It may also seem obvious to say that none of Mr Warner's drivers or passengers should be exposed this way. But it bears saying, nevertheless.

The solution, though, is the same as ever because, sooner or later, a yob with a mouth bigger than his or her brain will brag about their deeds.

When they do, before someone's seriously injured or Boomerang decides not to come back, someone on Dines Green needs to pick up the phone, call police and name names.