An articulated lorry ploughed into the back of a coach carrying 46 Southend schoolchildren in dangerously foggy conditions on the M25.

The coach was bringing Southend High School for Boys students and three teachers home from Kew Gardens, in west London.

The shaken passengers had to wait on the hard shoulder for an hour while a replacement coach came to collect them. One pupil was later taken to Southend Hospital as a precaution.

A police spokesman said: "The coach was forced to brake due to stationary traffic. It stopped but then a lorry went into the back of it. People were a bit shaken and there were a couple of bumps but although police and ambulance staff attended, no-one needed hospital treatment."

Michael Frampton, headteacher of the school, in Prittlewell Chase, Southend, said: "Our coach was stationary and the boys were wearing their safety belts, although some were thrown forward. Nobody was seriously hurt."

The accident happened on Thursday night.

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