For some, it is a quotidian nuisance that inevitably occurs when you are in the vicinity of teenagers. For others, it is an expression of modern-day lawlessness among young people.

Whatever view you take, antisocial behaviour on public transport has become a hot debate – and with the introduction of free bus travel for kids aged 5 to 15 across England during August, matters have come to a head in Staffordshire.

On Friday, the bus company First Bus banned all passengers aged 15 and under travelling without an adult after 6pm in Stoke-on-Trent until further notice.

The company said multiple incidents of antisocial behaviour had occurred since the government’s “cost of living-busting” flagship free travel scheme was introduced on 1 August, including one involving more than 100 young people acting in an “intimidating and aggressive way” at Hanley bus station in the city centre.

“Police had to be called,” local First Bus regional director Simon Mathieson told a journalist on Radio Stoke. “Lots of my drivers, who want to do a good job, [were] feeling very unsafe; lots of passengers, trying to get home, [were] feeling very unsafe.”

He revealed the company had seen a large uptake of the free travel offer by children in the area, describing it as a brilliant scheme to get people using buses. But he added that one driver had since reported children had been swinging on strap handles on the handrails of his bus and running up and down the vehicle while it was in motion.

“That’s not really helping people feel like they can travel in safety and comfort,” Mathieson said. “Unfortunately – and very regretfully – because of the antisocial behaviour … We’ve made the decision to protect staff and other customers on the buses.”

Last year, the Liberal Democrats called for tougher action to be taken to tackle “headphone dodgers” who play loud music on buses and trains, including fines of up to £1,000.

The Scottish government is planning to bring in legislation that will allow it to force people who benefit from its free bus travel scheme – including young people aged 5 to 21 – to abide by a forthcoming code of conduct, or have their right to concessionary travel withdrawn or suspended.

But others say policies to prevent antisocial behaviour in public places are already disproportionate and can result in hefty fines.

For example, one passenger at Waterloo station who put a coffee cup in a rubbish bag next to a “completely full” bin was recently fined £500 by a Lambeth council enforcement officer who had been standing at a distance, watching the bin.

An 86-year-old pensioner was fined £250 in Skegness, Lincolnshire, last year for spitting out a leaf after it blew into his mouth.

Cllr Finlay Gordon-McCusker, the cabinet minister for transport at Stoke-on-Trent council, said it was disappointing that First Bus had decided to ban all unaccompanied under-16s in the evenings. “Sadly, the children paying the price are overwhelmingly the ones who did nothing wrong.”

He said that during his discussions with the company, he had questioned why more transport safety officers could not have been deployed to monitor the routes that were affected instead. “It’s a real shame that First Bus felt that this was their only option … It’s certainly not the option I would have liked to see put in place.”

He and his fellow councillors had welcomed the government’s free bus travel scheme in August, he said. “But clearly it’s presented an opportunity for some kids to travel across the city and cause trouble, which is what they’ve done in this situation.”

That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the policy, he added. “Teenagers with nothing to do in August isn’t a new phenomenon. The scheme didn’t create the behaviour. It changed its geography.”

He added: “What the free travel did, possibly, was move it [the antisocial behaviour] from the estates where it’s dispersed and largely unreported to the bus station where it’s concentrated, it’s visible and it lands in an incident log.”

He disagrees that banning unaccompanied children from buses in evenings is the right way to tackle antisocial behaviour in Stoke-on-Trent. A better solution might have been greater police presence at the bus station, he said, so that young people could have continued to benefit from the freedom of having unlimited free bus travel during the summer holidays.

“It’s certainly not fair,” he said. “I think it’s a crying shame that that freedom [to travel] has been taken away because of the unacceptable behaviour of a very small minority of young people.”

First Bus declined to be interviewed by the Guardian but said in a statement the decision had been approved by the Department for Transport (DfT) and has the full support of the council.

Drivers will continue to be able to exercise their discretion to provide free travel for unaccompanied children and young people if they are vulnerable or to ensure their safety.

A government spokesperson said: “Our Great British Summer Savings scheme allows kids under 15 to travel for free on participating services, to give families room to breathe and enjoy days out throughout August. “The scheme rightly offers all local operators flexibilities to deal with issues like anti-social behaviour, such as the right to refuse travel or localised time restrictions.”