“Deeply concerning” footage shows the moment when a man chucked a handful of “rocks” to smash the front of a bus.

A hooded man was recorded repeatedly throwing an object at least 10 times at the windscreen of a 169 bus that was stopped in the middle of Ilford Lane, between Jubilee Gardens and the Shell petrol station.

Transport for London has confirmed that the bus was damaged after the incident on Sunday (May 7) at around 10.15pm.

The reason why the objects were thrown are unknown, but the man stood in front of the bus so it could not move as he smashed the glass.

Passengers on the bus were seen escaping as other onlookers stood by in shock.

Social media account @ig1ig3 has claimed the objects were rocks, however it is not clear if that is the case.

Rosie Trew, TfL’s head of bus operations, said: “This is deeply concerning footage. The incident must have been very frightening for those who witnessed it.

“We always support the strongest possible action against anyone who assaults or endangers our customers or staff.

“Fortunately there were no injuries and we will be supporting police and the operator, Stagecoach, with their investigation.”

The officer investigating the incident, PC Jasmeet Dihot, the local policing team in east London, said: “We are investigating what was a scary incident to witness and we are carrying out a number of enquiries to locate whoever is responsible.

“This behaviour will not be tolerated by police – our bus drivers and everyone in the community should be free from fear of violence when going about their daily business.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting CAD 7432/07MAY.