Heroic action of injured driver

One coach hit a tree, the other slid across the road

A coach driver tried to help a fatally injured colleague despite being hurt himself after both their vehicles crashed on an icy road.

The accident happened just before 0500 GMT on Tuesday on the B1248 at Tibthorpe near Driffield, East Yorkshire.

The coaches, from different firms, were taking foreign workers to a bacon factory at Norton.

The surviving driver, a first-aider, suffered a broken foot in the crash.

Sheet ice

Hull Royal Infirmary says it treated 10 people from the crash for minor injuries.

Both coaches were travelling from Hull on a regular run to the Malton Bacon company.

The first coach, carrying 36 Czech workers, hit a tree.

It was operated by Jim Bell Travel whose driver died at the scene.

The second bus, operated by East Yorkshire Motor Services, had nine Portuguese workers on board.

Inspector Steve Anderson, of Humberside Police, said when he arrived on the scene at 0600 GMT the road "was like a sheet of ice".

He continued: "The road had been gritted on Monday, but it had rained overnight which would have washed the grit away."

Nick Grainger, from Humberside Fire Service, said: "Road conditions were truly treacherous with black ice."

Peter Shipp of East Yorkshire Motor Services said the surviving driver was taken to hospital suffering from a suspected broken foot.

"I'm not sure that he was aware of that at the time because we understand that after the incident he got out and, being a trained first-aider, tried to offer some assistance to the other driver who was quite clearly in a bad way.

"He was unable to do anything, I think, then our driver made sure our coach passengers were secure and as comfortable as they could be."

A spokesman for Jim Bell Travel of Hull confirmed that one of the firm's drivers had died and offered "sincere heartfelt condolences" to his family.

Humberside Police is conducting a full inquiry into how the accident happened.