School bus crash causes Letwell road closure

The green bus, which was not carrying any passengers at the time, came to rest in a cornfield on Lamb Lane near Letwell after being hit by what its owners called “a freak gust” on Tuesday afternoon.

Parish council clerk Martyn Sharpe said he did not think the exposed road was suitable for such high-side double-decker buses but Carol Morton, secretary MAS Special Engineering, which runs the buses said it was necessary to travel along Lamb Lane to reach its school destination.

“This was purely a fluke of the weather,” she said.

“The driver was OK and there was hardly any damage to the bus at all.

“It has been caught by a freak gust of wind, gone onto the soft verge and toppled over.

“When a vehicle tips over you need a crane to pick it up.”

The accident happened at about 2.45pm on Tuesday when the bus is thought to have been on its way to pick up school children and the road remained closed for several hours.

The bus was still being recovered later that evening.

Mr Sharpe, who said there had been a similar incident in a nearby spot a few years ago, said: “There were no children on the bus at the time but the operator needs to sit down and talk about wherher this is a safe route for a large high-sided vehicle.

“This incident happened in a dip which should not be so vulnerable to high winds.”