Twenty hurt in bus crash

About 20 people were injured when their single-decker bus crashed down an embankment in Cheshire.

The bus crashed through a safety barrier before plunging 50 feet down the embankment at the junction of Chester Road and Gainsborough Road in Warrington.

The accident, at about 1440 BST on Sunday, initially left a man trapped underneath the vehicle.

He was released by firefighters using heavy lifting gear.

A pensioner suffered a major abdominal injury and a child is understood to have a broken leg. Other people received minor injuries.

'Barrier collapsed'

The bus was taking people to Walton Gardens in the town, and the accident happened close to the Manchester Ship Canal.

Tim Vernon, a driver who passed the scene just after the accident, said he saw a number of children being carried back up the embankment.

Mr Vernon, 24, from Warrington, said: "First of all I could only see a lot of parked cars in the area.

"But as I turned right on to Gainsborough Road I could see the crash barrier had collapsed and there was a bus that had gone down the embankment.

"I then could see that some passers-by were carrying some children back up the bank, one of whom looked like he had some sort of injury to his head."

All those injured were taken to Warrington General Hospital for treatment.