54 people were injured when a double-decker bus and a motorbike collided in icy weather, leaving the bus on its side on a major A road.
A major incident was declared after a crash involving a double-decker bus and a motorcyclist on the A39 in Somerset.
Inspector Rebecca Wells-Cole of Avon and Somerset Police gave a statement to press near the scene of the bus crash, confirming there had been no fatalities.
She said: “This morning at 6am, Tuesday the 17th of January, we were called to the A39 Quantock Road in Bridgewater following a report of a road-related incident involving a double-decker bus and a motorcyclist.
“We can now confirm the double-decker bus was carrying 70 Hinkley Point C workers and the bus driver when it overturned.
“The incident was initially declared as a major incident due to the number of people involved and the resources required.
“This has since been stood down.” Inspector Rebecca Wells-Cole added: “Emergency services have been on the scene since receiving the first 999 call and we can confirm that have been no fatalities at this time.
“Fifty-four patients were triaged at the scene and it’s too soon to confirm if any of these patients have life-threatening injuries.
“However, 26 patients are being treated as walking wounded.
“A number of those treated at the scene had been taken to Musgrove Park Hospital, Bridgewater Minor Injury Unit and Southmead Hospital.
“It may take us some time to recover the bus and to clear the debris from the road.
“I would like to take this opportunity to advise the local residents to only travel where absolutely essential due to the icy road conditions caused by the cold temperatures overnight and the excess water on the road.”
Police at the scene on the A39 in Bridgwater after a double-decker bus overturned (Andrew Matthews/PA)
Passengers on the bus included workers from Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
A spokesman for the power station said: “A bus carrying members of the Hinkley Point C workforce has been involved in a traffic incident on the A39 in Bridgwater.
“Emergency services are on the scene and travel to and from the site has been suspended.”
In the early hours of Tuesday, police urged people to “please only travel if it is absolutely essential” as they received more than 100 reports of road-related incidents in five hours.
They said: “Conditions are extremely icy and dangerous due to the freezing conditions overnight and residual water on the road from the past week’s wet weather.”
A total of 53 crashes were reported to police between 6pm and 11pm on Monday, most of them due to the freezing weather causing dangerous driving conditions.
Seven of these incidents were reported to have resulted in injuries, but they are not thought to be serious, police said.
A further 67 calls concerned other road-related incidents.
Superintendent Mark Runacres said: “We are advising the public to only travel where absolutely essential due to the treacherous driving conditions.
“If travel is necessary, we ask the public to take extreme caution and allow additional time to travel.
“We have seen a significantly higher number of road-related collisions and incidents in the past 12 hours, which has increased the demand on police resources.
“We are working with local authorities and National Highways to ensure roads are properly gritted ahead of the rush-hour traffic to improve driving conditions.”
