A BOY aged 13 has been charged with raping an eight-year-old girl on a bus.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is alleged to have forced himself on the young girl on a bus in Kilmarnock.

The case has been referred to the Children's Reporter, who is considering whether there is sufficient evidence to take it before a Children's Hearing later this year.

It was not considered to be in the public interest to prosecute the boy – among the youngest in Scotland to be charged with rape – in the adult court system, although the gravity of the charge meant this was an option.

Details of the incident, which occurred last November, have emerged less than two months after a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two older men on the upper deck of a First bus in Glasgow in March.

The alleged rape of the eight-year-old girl in Kilmarnock was not previously made public because, according to a spokeswoman for Police Scotland, the case was "wrapped up quickly" by detectives, with no need for a media appeal for information or witnesses.

The case only came to light after a Freedom of Information request was made to Police Scotland asking for details of all crimes recorded on buses in Scotland between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013, as well as how often officers were able to access CCTV as evidence.

The response reveals that police in Scotland dealt with 1356 offences on buses in the last year, including 22 sexual assaults, 237 assaults, 174 acts of vandalism, 34 thefts and muggings and 25 alcohol-related crimes, including one passenger drunk in charge of a child.

There were also 150 reports of threatening and abusive behaviour, 29 racial offences, five cases of fire-raising, five incidents of indecent exposure and eight cases of passengers being caught carrying offensive weapons or knives.

Police were also called to deal with 11 currency offences, such as using counterfeit money, and two of postal workers dumping mail on the bus.

However, the figures are likely to be significantly higher as three areas – Highlands and Islands, Fife, and Dumfries and Galloway – were unable to provide data relating specifically to crime on buses.

Data on how often CCTV was obtained by officers is also unclear as the information was unavailable in four areas, including the former Strathclyde force's region. However, based on the available data, CCTV was available in about one in five crime reports.

John McCormick, chairman of the Scottish Association for Public Transport, called for buses, particularly double deckers, to be fitted with emergency alarms.

He said: "Trains are fitted with emergency buttons so I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to have some sort of alarm you can set off on a bus, to alert the driver so that they can stop and call the police.

"It's normally the rowdier behaviour and people drinking on buses that people are aware of, so it's incredible to think that some of these crimes can be going on while the bus is happily being driven along by a driver who is only a few yards away from where it's happening."

Mr McCormick added that buses fitted with CCTV should not be allowed to leave the depot unless it is working.

Elaine Murray, Shadow Minister for Transport, said it was "very worrying that there are so many violent and sexual assaults taking place on buses".

She added that the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland should investigate whether police faced difficulties obtaining CCTV from bus companies.

While most new buses are fitted with CCTV – in some cases recording high-definition pictures – a spokesman for the Confederation of Passenger Transport Scotland said it was impractical to fit it in older models of bus.