Bus crash families are mourned

Richard and Paula Rhodes both died in the accident

Friends of five people who died in a traffic accident in Lincolnshire have spoken of their shock.

A mother and her two sons from Leicestershire and a couple from Nottinghamshire died when a bus ran into a seaside crowd on Sunday.

Richard Rhodes, 32, and his wife Paula from Mansfield, died as they waited outside the Fantasy Island resort in Ingoldmells.

Friends of the Rhodes said they were "a lovely couple".

Joanna Warren, 37, and her sons Jacob, five and four-month-old Leyton, also died in the crash.

Second tragedy

Jane Heginbotham of the Solid Fuel Association in Alfreton, Derbyshire, where Paula, 30, worked, said: "It is so numbing - she was a lovely person and, in this job, you need a lot of charm and courtesy and she had that in abundance.

"She will leave a big hole in our lives."

Her husband Richard, who worked at a camping supply store, was described as "a bright, bubbly person who always cheered you up".

Police are continuing to question more than a 100 people about the accident.

It is a tragic event and we are all very distressed Lincolnshire RoadCar Ltd

In Braunstone, where the Warren family lives, friends said the whole neighbourhood was in shock.

"Everyone is devastated around here - they are all on about it," one neighbour said.

Mrs Warren's husband, Anthony, was seriously injured in the crash and is in hospital, although his condition is not thought to be life-threatening.

His teenage daughter, Jenica, 14, is at her father's bedside at Boston's Pilgrim Hospital.

Braunstone councillor Joy Seare said it was another shock for the area after a house fire less than two weeks ago killed five members of the same family.

"To have these two things happening within two weeks of each other - two families practically wiped out - it is such a shock."

Incident room

The bus, owned and run by Lincolnshire RoadCar Ltd, was on a regular service between Chapel St Leonards and Ingoldmells when the accident happened.

A spokesman for the company, which is based in Lincoln, said: "It is a tragic event and we are all very distressed.

"There is an investigation going on involving ourselves, the police and the Department of Transport and until that is concluded we have nothing further to say."

Lincolnshire Police, who are continuing to investigate the crash, have opened an incident room at Louth.