Essex school bus company to report to council after crash

The roof of the bus was totally ripped off and ended up on top of another vehicle on Clatterbury Lane

A full report will be provided by a company after five children were hurt when the roof of one of its school buses was ripped off by a tree branch.

Emergency services were called to the collision in Clavering, near Stansted Airport in Essex, at 08:15 BST on Thursday.

The county council said a report would be presented to them "in due course".

Joyce Frankland Academy, in Newport, said the bus was taking pupils to school when it hit the branch.

Bus operator Stephensons said its double decker bus was travelling at 14mph at the time of the incident

A council spokesperson said: "This is a serious incident involving a commercial bus service; therefore the response is being led by Essex Police and the bus operator. "The bus operator will provide a full incident report to the council in due course."

Police said 15 passengers sustained injuries.

The force said on Thursday that it believed five suffered serious injuries, but by the following morning, it said only one of them was considered serious.

The road was closed for several hours by police

Martin Philpott, who took photographs at the scene on Clatterbury Lane, had two daughters who were on the lower deck of the bus who were left in "shock", he said.

They told him they heard a "big crash" and glass and poles fell down the stairwell.

One of his daughters helped other pupils get off the bus and he said he was "really proud of her".

"There was a child at the front of the bus on the top level. he dropped his phone and he lent down to pick it up as the impact happened, if he was stood upright when it happened he would have been in serious danger," he said.

"The bus had hit the tree and ripped the roof off and it was on top of another car."

The roof was placed back on the bus as it was taken away by a recovery lorry

A spokesperson from bus operator Stephensons said they knew from telematics that the bus was travelling at 14mph (22km/h), and travelling past a car coming in the opposite direction, when it hit a large tree branch.

They said they "believe the tree branch may have been brought down by heavy overnight rain and wind, but that is unclear at this stage".

Duncan Roberts, the secondary school's principal, said on its website: "We are all shocked that such a traumatic incident has taken place on one of the shared school bus routes.

"We are, however, thankful that while some pupils have sustained some injuries, none appear at this stage to be serious, life changing or life-threatening.

"A small number of students have been to hospital to be assessed and treated."

He thanked the emergency services, staff, pupils, parents and the wider community for their support and "quick and calm response".

He said he had visited pupils who were in hospital and support was being offered to pupils who were involved.

People were asked to avoid the area while emergency services worked at the scene