Pupils praised after bus crash

About 45 students on their way to St John's School in Marlborough escaped injury on Tuesday when the single deck bus collided with a builder's van being driven in the opposite direction.

Although some of them in the seats towards the front of the bus were showered with splinters of glass from the shattered windscreen, none of them was cut.

St John's headteacher Patrick Hazlewood said he was "incredibly proud"of the sensible way the pupils had reacted in the aftermath to the crash.

Both he and the police had particular praise for 15-year-old Katharine Martin who remained chatting to the trapped van driver until the emergency services arrived.

The accident happened at about 8.15am outside Burney Farm on the narrow unclassified road between Axford and Aldbourne.

A Barnes coach from Aldbourne carrying pupils to St John's upper school collided with the white Transit van being driven by a 57-year-old man from Fordingbridge in Hampshire.

The students from the village of Aldbourne were about six miles away from their school at the time of the crash, which occurred in heavy rain.

More serious injury was avoided by the coach driver who was able to swerve on to verge at the side of the narrow lane and avoid a full head-on impact.

The school bus driver and his passengers escaped without injury although the front offside of the coach was damaged and the vehicle had to be removed on a transporter.

Some of the pupils suffered shock and several were crying but none required treatment and they were collected by another coach to continue their journey to school.

Dr Hazlewood praised his pupils. He said: "They were so sensible and alert to what needed to be done. When they arrived at school we gave them a bit of a debriefing and counselling."

Some of the younger children had opted to return to their homes when replacement coaches arrived.

The head said special praise was due to Katharine for the way she went to the aid of the van driver, to Nick Spath, also 15, who ran to a neighbouring farm to call the emergency services, to Matthew Chambers, 14, who stayed with the dazed coach driver, and sixth-former Tabitha Cook who maintained order among the other pupils on the bus.

The van driver, who had been travelling towards Aldbourne, was trapped in his seat and initially it was feared he could have suffered spinal injuries.

Fireighters from Ramsbury and Westlea in Swindon used hydraulic rams to force out the impacted front of the van, which had trapped the driver by his legs.

The driver was immobilised on a special stretcher because of the risk of back injuries before being carried through the back of his vehicle to a waiting ambulance. Paramedics discovered that he had minor injuries only but took him to the Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon.

Westlea-based Station Officer Peter Townsend said: "The van driver has stood up to it very well and was laughing and joking all the time.

"He insisted on each of the firefighters being introduced to him and we were confident that his injuries were not life threatening."

Police sergeant Martyn Sweett also praised the actions of the St John's students, especially Katharine, for the way they behaved while they waited for the emergency services to arrive.

The coach driver, who lives in Cirencester, was unhurt. He said that most of the pupils on the bus had reacted calmly although one or two had shown their shock by crying.

Station Officer Townsend said: "Some of the schoolchildren were pretty upset and a couple of the girls were crying and distraught when we arrived."

Year 11 student Katharine, who lives in Aldbourne, said that she had no formal first aid training other than what she remembered from when she was in the village Guide pack.

Katharine said: "I just went over to talk to him (the trapped van driver) and we kept talking until the fire brigade and ambulance came. "We were talking about where he was from and what he was doing. He said he was going to Aldbourne to lay a floor in a nursing home."