A school headteacher has praised emergency services and the community for their help in treating pupils involved in a head-on bus crash.

Pupils from St Benedict's College, Colchester, formed the majority of the passengers on board the Windmill Coaches service which was involved in a collision with a van at Little Oakley, near Harwich, yesterday (Monday).

Principal Alan Whelan said today (Tuesday): "I visited them all in hospital and they were all doing fine. All the pupils were very well looked after, but were obviously very shocked. Many had bad bruises, quite a number had cuts.

"I was tremendously grateful. All the parents had rallied round. Even the local priest had visited them before I got there. It was a big gesture by the Harwich community."

Eighteen students -13 girls and five boys - were treated at Harwich Hospital, while one 13-year-old, from Dovercourt, was taken to Colchester General Hospital for an operation on his fractured elbow.

Mr Whelan said he had surprisingly been "one of the chirpier ones".

The van driver, a 39-year-old from Clacton, suffered several broken ribs and a broken collar bone, and was treated at Colchester.

The bus driver, Ken Blackman, escaped injury - despite a ladder smashing through the windscreen of his vehicle.

Other children on the bus were heading either to Colchester County High School for Girls or Colchester Sixth Form College. In total it was carrying 30 passengers from the Harwich area and all were aged between 11 and 18.

A spokesman for Stanway-based Windmill Coaches said the coach had suffered "substantial damage" but added the service would continue as normal.

Police have appealed for witnesses to the crash which occurred close to Little Oakley Hall on the B1414 just after 8.30am. Anyone who can help is asked to contact Stanway traffic police on 01206 762512

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