London bus drivers get spit kits

Unions have welcomed the introduction of spit-kits for London bus drivers but warned that consultation is necessary for the new measure to be effective.

The kits allow drivers to take samples of saliva, which can then be DNA-tested by a new police unit set up to combat attacks on bus drivers. The kits are already used by Tube staff and helped prosecute about 100 people last year.

Peter Kavanagh, organiser for the main bus union Unite warned that “the training and implementation of these initiatives will only be effective with the active involvement of the union that represents all London’s bus workers”. He said that where spit kits were already in operation, drivers are expected to complete the police procedures within their own time, and that assaults were not always followed up.