NINE pensioners and their driver were taken to hospital on Thursday after the minibus they were travelling in crashed head-on into a wall on Rowden Hill.

The victims, who were on their way to a weekly lunch club, had to be carried out of the wreckage by firefighters.

Injuries included a fractured hip, a broken nose and ruptured varicose vein, although no-one was in a life-threatening condition.

Five people were taken by ambulance to the Royal United Hospital in Bath and the other four were treated for minor injuries at Chippenham Hospital.

PC Tim Swinburn, the first officer on the scene, said the accident was treated seriously because of the number of people involved and their ages.

The victims had all been picked up by the Chippenham Transport for the Disabled minibus and were on their way to a lunch club at the Rotary Hall on Station Hill.

Audrey Scotford, who runs the lunch club, said most people were now recovering at home but said one 88-year-old man still "remained a worry".

The pensioner, thought to be a former police officer, is in the Royal United Hospital in Bath with a broken hip.

Another victim was an 82-year-old resident at Seymour House Residential Home in Monkton Park. A spokesman for the home said the woman was badly bruised, but otherwise unhurt.

The minibus had been travelling down Lowden Hill when it careered straight across the junction with Rowden Hill and straight into a brick wall opposite. There were no other vehicles involved.

It is thought the minibus suffered some kind of brake failure and a full investigation is under way.

The incident happened just before 12.30pm and three fire engines, five ambulances and five police vehicles attended the scene. Traffic was diverted for two hours as Rowden Hill was closed.

Any witnesses are asked to call PC Phil Salsbury at Corsham Road Police Unit on (01249) 654455.