A bus driver who was involved in a collision in Burton with a car which left a seven-year-old passenger needing treatment for shock, has spoken about the incident.

David Hanchett, 59, was involved in a collision with a car in High Street at the traffic lights near the Three Queens Hotel.

He says his bus was heading towards the lights and the car was coming from Meadowside Drive, near the leisure centre. He claims the car pulled out and drove on the wrong side of the road to beat the queuing traffic. It cut in front of his bus but the lights changed forcing Mr Hanchett to brake sharply and the two collided.

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This area of High Street has been plagued by long tailbacks due to the work to repair St Peter's Bridge.

The crash led to a seven-year-old girl, who was a passenger on the bus needing treatment for shock. It happened at 2.40pm on Tuesday, September 5.

Mr Hanchett, who has been a bus driver for 29 years and currently works for Midland Classic, said some car drivers were becoming irresponsible and even "driving on the pavement" to get around the tailbacks.

Bus driver David has spoken out about a collision with a car which left a young girl in shock

He claimed: "The crash wasn’t during the rush-hour but all traffic at the moment is slow moving which is causing a lot of frustration among drivers. The driver of the car came out from near the Meadowside and decided to drive the wrong side of the road. He swerved into the front of me so I braked sharply and went into his wheel arch."

He said: "The first thing I did was ask passengers if they were ok. I didn’t know if the little girl was injured at that point and her mother rang the police.

"We didn’t get very far with the driver. He wasn’t keen to stay long and deal with the police and he left very quickly, his passenger was also very verbally abusive.

"I was a bit shaken but being a bus driver we see this stuff on a regular basis and my main concern was for the little girl. I have spoken to her mum since and she is doing fine. It was just shock luckily.

"What annoyed me most was the disregard for other road users and the driver wouldn’t even give me insurance details which is an absolute basic legal requirement."

Mr Hanchett, who is also a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, also said the pedestrianised section further along High Street was "an accident waiting to happen" after he has witnessed it being used as a through-road which is a traffic offence.

He said: "The High Street is being used as a through road more and more and I have even seen people driving on the pavement. It is a very dangerous situation and there is going to be a really serious accident if people are not careful."

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said officers "supported a seven-year-old who was a passenger on the bus."

She was treated for shock and there were no injuries.

The spokesman said: "It was a damage only road traffic collision and the ambulance service was called but there were no injuries. Both parties exchanged details and there were no arrests made."

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