2,500 DNA testing kits – each of which includes two swabs, gloves and an evidence bag – are to be given to bus staff in Brent, north-west London to help catch passengers who spit at them. They allow saliva to be preserved which can be handed to police who test it against a national DNA database.

Evidence from the operation – codenamed Gobstopper – will be used alongside CCTV to prosecute attackers.

Last August, Tube staff at central London stations were issued with the DNA kits to stop people spitting on them.

The kits have also been used by train staff on First Great Western Trains and traffic wardens in Scotland.

From BBC News, via Pasta & Vinegar.