Motorway crash coach driver arrested on suspicion of drink driving

The single-decker coach clipped a kerb, hit a lamp post and a tree and toppled over onto the driver's side as it entered Newport Pagnell services on Monday afternoon.

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Crash: The coach flipped onto its side

The driver of the Birmingham-Stansted service, who had to be cut free, was breath tested at the scene and arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of drink-driving and dangerous driving.

One passenger said the coach had been "going fast round corners".

A National Express spokeswoman said today: "We undertake random tests on drivers on a weekly basis. We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to alcohol or drug use by our drivers."

Six passengers were taken to hospitals in Milton Keynes, Northampton and Oxford with serious injuries. A further 11 received minor injuries.

Passenger Kirsty Plummer, from Luton, said: "The driver was swerving so I put my seat belt on.

"When we went over they had to kick the glass out to free us. Some of the people on board were badly injured. I saw a man with blood pouring from his head."

She said others who did not do so fell on top of her as the coach overturned and were more seriously injured.

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Emergency: Workers at the scene of the crash

Eddie Gershon, a spokesman for Welcome Break, which operates the service station, said: "About a dozen staff from Newport Pagnell came out and gave initial first aid before the emergency services arrived."

There were 34 passengers onboard when the crash happened.

Three people died following a crash in January in which a National Express coach overturned on a motorway slip road.

The company temporarily withdrew its entire double-decker coach fleet for safety checks.

National Express has set up an emergency inquiry line on 0800 731 2734.

Rescue: The scene of the crash