Bus driver charged over sea smash

Five people died in the bus crash in Easter 2004

A bus driver has been charged with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a crash on a Lincolnshire sea front.

The collision at Ingoldmells, near Skegness, last Easter Sunday killed a Leics mother, her two young sons and a married couple from Mansfield, Notts.

The 51-year-old man from Louth has been released on bail. He is due before Skegness magistrates next Tuesday.

His bus collided with a group of pedestrians on Sea Lane.

Campaigners have called for a traffic ban on Sea Lane, with a petition of 5,000 signatures presented to highways officials because of the deaths.

The five who died were Joanna Warren, 37, from Braunstone, Leicester, and her two young sons, Jacob, five, and four-month-old Leyton, plus married couple Richard and Paula Rhodes, from Mansfield.

A police spokesman said: "Lincolnshire Police have charged the driver of the bus involved with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

"The 51-year-old Louth man will appear before Skegness magistrates on Tuesday 25 January."