Schoolgirls hurt in tractor crash

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The girls were injured when the bus and a tractor carrying hay bales collided

Three schoolgirls were injured in Wiltshire after a tractor carrying a hay bale tore through the top deck of their school bus.

The double-decker was taking 40 children home from Bradon Forest School in Purton when it was hit at about 1600 GMT at Lydiard Millicent near Swindon.

One teenage girl was removed from the bus through a window on a spinal board and flown to hospital by air ambulance.

Two 12-year-old girls were taken by ambulance to hospital by road.

None of the pupils are thought to have suffered life-threatening injuries.

Dave Wilmot, from the Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS), said: "The tractor had a raised grabber at the front and this tore through the upper deck of the bus at the front and down the side.

"It was a difficult operation removing the girl through the windows of the bus on a spinal board - she was placed on this as a standard precaution.

"When the first 999 call came in, we responded as if it were a major incident. Fortunately, none of the injuries appear to be particularly serious, but the incident could clearly have been much worse."

All the other passengers, including the drivers of the bus and tractor, were assessed and cleared at the scene by ambulance staff.