Coach crash driver named

The driver of the car involved has been arrested

Coach driver William Penny and one of his passengers died when a National Express coach carrying 30 people hit a tree after colliding with a car in Suffolk.

Mr Penny, 68, from Bradwell in Great Yarmouth, was praised for steering the coach away from a petrol station.

The passenger who died in the accident at Kentford, near Newmarket, on Tuesday has not yet been named by police.

We really do owe the coach driver a lot

Witness Julie Ebbs

The 26 other passengers treated after the crash were released from hospital on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old driver of the car has been arrested and is in police custody at Bury St. Edmunds.

Police said the crash happened at 2000BST on Tuesday as the coach was travelling from London to Great Yarmouth.

Driver 'saved lives'

Julie Ebbs, who was working in the Bury Road petrol station near the scene of the collision, said the driver's action to steer the coach away from the building had saved her life.

"He was fighting with the coach and then there was a huge smash and it hit the tree," she said.

"If he hadn't taken it over that side of the road it would have crashed into the garage and me, the customers and the garage would have all gone up.

"We really do owe the coach driver a lot because if he hadn't fought so hard to get that coach over the other side of the road I wouldn't be here now."

Mr Penny was pronounced dead at the scene while the male passenger died later in hospital.

Police commandeered a coach to carry some of the injured to Addenbroke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Five others were taken to the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

The fire service used cutting equipment to free one person trapped in the wreckage.

Hospital alert

Duty manager at the West Suffolk Hospital, Janice Rushworth, said most passengers had minor injuries.

"We were ready to put our emergency procedures operation into action but in the event we only had to put it partly into operation," she said.

"Extra doctors and nurses were called in."

The police sealed off roads around the crash site but do not yet know what caused the crash or at what speed the vehicles were travelling.

A spokeswoman for National Express said: "We are obviously extremely concerned and our thoughts are with the driver's wife and family.

"We are currently working with the emergency services on site in order to provide as much information as possible to friends and relatives of passengers on board as quickly as possible."

National Express has opened an emergency information telephone line for those worried about friends and relatives - 01473 613500.