On board the bus tackling anti-social behaviour

The bus goes through areas that have been hotspots for anti-social behaviour

Undercover police officers in north-east England are riding "Trojan horse" bus services to tackle anti-social behaviour. The BBC joined Northumbria Police for a bus ride with a difference.

At first glance, the passengers on the Stagecoach bus service to South Shields via Roker and Seaburn look like anyone else.

But the giveaway is the earpiece peeking out from under their coats, as these are all plain-clothes officers on the lookout for anti-social behaviour.

Travelling on a bus gives the officers the element of surprise, allowing them to get near incidents before anyone realises they are police.

Tonight, the bus route travels to areas that have been hotspots for anti-social behaviour.

It is a Tuesday evening, but within an hour officers are dealing with their first incident: fireworks being let off by teenagers by the bus station.

The teens are handed a map and a dispersal order, which bans them from the area.

They risk arrest if they come back before the order expires.

Sgt Peter Baker says the strategy is "very effective".

"It’s a tool that we can use and obviously the youths don’t get into bother by getting arrested," Sgt Baker says.

"It’s kind of like a wake-up call to them being stopped by the police…They could come back but we’ll obviously deal with that.”

Sgt Baker said being stopped by police was a "wake-up call" for the youths

Anti-social behaviour incidents have a significant impact on public transport passengers.

A woman waiting at the bus station says she has been put off from catching the Tyne and Wear Metro due to "abusive" behaviour.

“I used to get the Metro home every night from work and now I get the bus," she says.

“I would be home in half an hour if I got the Metro, it takes an hour and ten minutes so obviously it’s a lot longer.

"I’d rather go that way than get the Metro and put up with them. They’re awful.

"They’ve got no respect for anybody and they’re just abusive, it’s horrible.”

A teenager receiving a dispersal order from plain-clothes police officers

“[It] does seem to be getting a lot worse at the moment, especially at the sea front area," another man says.

"The last couple of weeks there’s been a couple of teenagers smashing the windows."

On board the "Trojan horse" bus

Plain-clothes officers travelling on public transport is not a new idea.

Twenty-five years ago, police used Q-trains - an ordinary train with officers on board, ready to jump off and tackle trouble.

Tonight, though, the action is on the roads rather than the rails.

We have been called back to the bus station after reports of laser pens being shone into bus drivers' eyes.

The bus pulls up nearby, and officers split up to circle some of the teenagers that have been identified as causing trouble.

The fact the police were not in marked cars means they have not drawn attention to their activities.

One boy manages to sprint away, but one of the others is caught.

A police officer speaking to a young man who has been caught using a laser pen

The 14-year-old is potentially in more trouble than he realises, as using laser pens like this can be a criminal offence.

He also shone it into the eyes of a police van driver.

The boy has since been interviewed by police.