Austria crash driver faces trial

42 Britons were on board the touring coach

The driver of a minibus accused of causing a crash in Austria last August that killed six British tourists faces trial on Wednesday.

Johan Prettenhaler, 70, a retired lorry driver, was bringing passengers back to Salzburg from Germany when he allegedly overtook a tour bus on a blind corner.

The holiday coach tumbled 30m down an embankment, landing upside down.

Prettenthaler is charged with causing death by negligence and could face three years in jail if found guilty.

The hearing at the Landesgericht (District Court) in central Salzburg is expected to last one day.

The accident happened near the town of Hallein, 15 miles from Salzburg on 10 August last year.

The holidaymakers had been on a tour to Berchtesgaden, Germany, organised by London-based operator Inghams.

Most of the coach's surviving passengers were injured. Of the 49 on board, 42 were British.

Those who died were David Hamilton, 33, from Bournemouth, Dorset; Marian Ashby, 80, and her son Robert Ashby, 60, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire; Clare Patel, 39, from Amersham, Buckinghamshire; Rebecca Earland, 16, from Tonbridge in Kent; and David Pover, 63, from Nantwich, Cheshire.

Lawyer Clive Garner, who is acting for many of the victims of the crash, said he hoped the hearing would bring the victims and the families who had lost loved ones, "a step nearer to understanding exactly what happened".