Coach crash passengers unhurt

Ten elderly passengers escaped injury when the coach they were travelling in crashed on the A127 in Essex.

The coach was returning from a day trip to Norfolk when it was in collision with a Ford Escort on the Southend-bound carriageway near Dawes Heath Road at about 2120 BST on Sunday.

The coach crashed into the central barrier, knocked over a street lamp, fractured a gas main and travelled 250 yards along the central reservation.

The driver managed to steer the coach away from the opposite carriageway.

It took 30 minutes to cut free the driver of the Escort, who was then taken to Southend Hospital with a broken leg and collar-bone.

The coach driver was uninjured.

The road was closed for five hours while the coach was recovered.

Essex Police say the road will have to be closed again over the next few days in order for the road surface, the safety barriers and the street lamp to be repaired.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash.