Coach trippers taken to hospital

The coach crash victims were taken home by replacement transport

Twenty-three people have been taken to hospital after a coach carrying day trippers crashed in the Cotswolds.

Police said the vehicle collided with a Toyota van at Kineton, Gloucestershire, just before 1100 BST on Friday.

The elderly passengers and driver, all from Evesham, Worcestershire, were treated at the scene, then taken to hospital to shelter them from the rain.

The van driver, from Gloucester, was also taken to Cheltenham General, but nobody was badly hurt in the crash.

Worcestershire County Council, which owns the coach, has sent a replacement to pick up the party from the hospital.

'Stormy conditions'

The pensioners are all members of the Coronation Street Luncheon Club, who were on a day trip to Nigel Twiston-Davies' stables.

Carole Pugh, from Worcestershire County Council, said: "We can confirm that one of our coaches taking a group of pensioners on a social outing to Cheltenham was involved in an accident.

"All passengers have now been discharged from hospital and we hope that they are all okay."

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said the injured people were taken to hospital because of the weather conditions.

"It was wet and windy with stormy conditions. It was decided to take all the pensioners to the hospital where they could be kept warm."