A SCHOOL bus driver who crashed into a low bridge leaving kids on board seriously injured has been charged with dangerous driving.

The double-decker smashed into the bridge on the way to school near Winchester, Hampshire on September 10 last year.

Three pupils were rushed to hospital with serious injuries requiring surgery and 12 others were treated for injuries at the scene.

Martin Walker, of Southampton, has been charged with three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The 36-year-old, who is understood to have worked for Stagecoach for around five years, is due to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on April 6.

More than 70 secondary school pupils from Henry Beaufort secondary school were on board at the time of the crash, and all those injured were aged between 11 and 16.

Dramatic pictures from the site show the bus wedged underneath the bridge – with the top deck completely destroyed.

'UNFAMILIAR' ROUTE

Parents claimed the driver was "unfamiliar" with the route, with one suggesting it was his "first day".

Stagecoach said the driver was "experienced" but could not confirm if he had driven that route before.

One man, who did not wish to be named, said at the time of the crash: "I think it was his first day – that is what everyone down here is saying.

"There were a lot of people gathered around and it seems to be he was very new to the job."

Year 11 student Robert, 15, was on the bottom deck at the front of the bus by the stairs and said fellow pupils suffered head and neck injuries.

He described how those who were seriously hurt were laid out on the road afterwards receiving treatment.

Robert, from Kings Worthy, near the site of the crash in Winchester, told BBC Radio Solent: "It's not a bridge we've ever gone under, but there are other bridges that we've been under and I initially thought we were going under one of them.

"I thought we had hit the side of the tunnel. The bus came to a very strong stop.

"I looked and there was glass down the stairs next to me, the roof of the bus had fallen down the side and there were cables hanging down.

I'm shaking, I'm trying to do stuff to take my mind off it. I'm still shaking

"The lights had gone off so I looked upstairs and people started coming down but you couldn't see up there because it was dark.

"I saw people with cuts on their neck, mainly minor injuries. A lot of head or neck injuries, but there were people with worse injuries."

Robert added: "I was on my phone, I never pay attention because normally it's just a boring bus ride to school.

"I'm shaking, I'm trying to do stuff to take my mind off it. I'm still shaking.

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"Some people were panicking but most people were calm because a lot of people were in shock, they didn't realise what was going on – personally neither did I.

"Then once we got out the bus and looked back at the tunnel it hit a lot of people what had happened and they could see people lying down with really bad injuries.

"That's when a lot of people started to break down."

A schoolboy has revealed how students thought they would die when the bus crashed

JAKE Coates said “panicked

The 14-year-old – who was sitting on the bottom deck – was terrified when he saw smoke escaping from the double-decker.

He said: "When I got off the bus, I could see people jumping out of the back windows. Workers from a nearby company were catching people jumping off.

"It was really scary, I was very shocked. People had cuts on their legs. One person had a cut on their back and their top had been ripped.

"There were a lot of people screaming, some were saying they were going to die.

"Dust came through the windows so it seemed like the bridge was going to collapse.

"I heard a massive bang, I could smell the smoke. Someone had a cut across their throat and cuts and grazes of their head.

"Everyone was panicked and shaken, very shocked.

"I felt the adrenaline, I was surprised about what had happened. Luckily no one lost any limbs."

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