Crash leaves coach hanging over bridge

Twenty-nine people were taken to hospital after a coach crashed off the road and was left hanging off a un-used railway bridge in England, police said today.

The accident happened just after 5.30pm yesterday on the outskirts of Nantwich in Cheshire.

Police said the 49-seater National Express coach was travelling from Cambridge to Southport, in Merseyside, when the accident happened.

A spokesman for Cheshire Constabulary said: “The coach left the carriageway on the nearside and collided with a crash barrier and railway bridge.

“29 people were taken to Leighton Hospital and two were admitted for treatment. None of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening.”

Police said the majority of passengers were from the south of England.

Stephen Heard, from the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said initial investigations suggested the coach had skidded on a patch of oil.

He added: “The coach skidded off the road and over the parapet of the bridge. The front end of the coach was hanging over the bridge and was lucky not to have fallen off the end.

“The coach was a National Express route which had been contracted out to another company.

“In total there were 37 people on board. The driver was not among those injured.”