Woman charged after Christmas Eve Peterborough city centre bus crash

The single-decker No2 Stagecoach bus collided with a Kia car before crashing into a Guide Dogs regional office.

A total of 13 people were hurt in the crash, which caused delays and diversions for motorists and last minute Christmas shoppers. Fire and rescue crews had to cut two people out of the crashed car.

The driver of the Kia – a woman in her 50s – her female passenger, four female bus passengers and one male bus passenger were taken to Peterborough City Hospital, although no-one was seriously injured.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire police said: “A woman (the driver of the Kia) is due to be summoned to Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on July 19 to face a charge of driving without due care and attention.”

A Guide Dogs worker told the Peterborough Telegraph that the bus went straight into reception and that it was very lucky nobody was in the reception area at the time. The spokesman added: “All staff out of the area at the time, shaken but fine. Very lucky considering the tea making area has been recently relocated to exact spot where the bus hit, and no one working upstairs.”

Daniel Caruso (21) was on the bus with 23-year-old brother Alexander when the crash happened.

“There was a bit of panic on the bus - there were a few older people on board, and people were screaming to call the police and call the ambulance.

“Everyone was able to get out of the bus by themselves.

“When I saw what happened, it was a real shock. I have never seen anything like that before.”

Tahir Hussain, manager of IQ Plus located two doors away from the scene told what happened before he and his staff were evacuated from their own office. He said: “We heard a really really loud bang that sounded like a car crash. We went outside and saw that the bus and car had collided. The bus then mounted the pavement into the side of the building a couple of doors down.

“A few of the passengers came out of the bus with bloody noses and whiplash. Some of them came in and we offered them cups of tea and coffee.

“Then we were evacuated because of a suspected gas leak so we all just left.”