Pupils injured as tractor hits school bus

Three pupils were injured yesterday after a tractor grabber "tore through" the top deck of their school bus, the ambulance service said.

More than 40 children were heading home from Bradon Forest School in Purton, Wiltshire, when their double-decker was struck by the tractor at around 4 p.m.

Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) sent a rapid response vehicle, two ambulances and the air ambulance to the spot at Lydiard Millicent near Swindon.

GWAS officer Dave Wilmot, who was at the scene, said: "The tractor had a raised grabber at the front and this tore through the upper deck of the bus at the front and down the side."

A teenage girl was trapped on the upper deck and had to be freed by the fire service working with GWAS clinical crews. She was then flown to Great Western Hospital by the Wiltshire Air Ambulance. She suffered cuts to her leg and hand and was this afternoon being assessed in hospital for a possible spinal injury.

Two other pupils at the secondary school were taken by road ambulances to Great Western Hospital for treatment to what are described as "minor injuries".

All the other passengers, as well as the drivers of the bus and tractor, were assessed and cleared at the scene by GWAS clinicians.

Mr Wilmot added: "It was a difficult operation removing the girl through the windows of the bus on a spinal board - she was placed on this as a standard precaution.

"When the first 999 call came in, we responded as if it were a major incident. Fortunately, none of the injuries appear to be particularly serious, but the incident could clearly have been much worse."