Cumbria coach fire: Passenger recalls vehicle blaze

The rear of the coach caught fire on the A590 in Backbarrow, in the Lake District

A passenger on a coach that caught fire has described how it "started shaking" before people managed to get off.

The vehicle was carrying about half a dozen workers from BAE Systems on their way home from college in Blackpool on Tuesday afternoon.

Smoke appeared from the rear of the coach at around 17:30 BST on the A590 at Backbarrow, near Ulverston, Cumbria.

Jamie Dunstan, who was sitting towards the rear of the coach, said: "Everyone seems fine, it may sink in tomorrow."

The vehicle had been carrying about half a dozen workers from BAE Systems

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene and the road was closed in both directions. It has since reopened.

Mr Dunstan, 27, a mechanical engineer, from Barrow-in-Furness, said he was starting to fall asleep when someone shouted that there was smoke coming from behind him.

"We were heading back from Blackpool and all of a sudden the coach started shaking like mad, at first I thought it had just broken down," he told the BBC.

"We all got off the coach as fast as we could - within a couple of minutes you started seeing the flames."

He said it was fortunate that the group managed to get off to the coach and make their way to safety before flames started to appear.

"We are all safe, we all got off, I remember saying, 'It's weird that I was just napping there' and it had gone up in flames," he added.

"We were there for about half an hour afterwards."

The group was later picked up and taken home.

The road was closed while firefighters attended the scene