Ten hurt after tree tears roof off bus

Thousands of trees in central London could be felled after 10 passengers were hurt when the top of a double-decker bus was ripped off by an overhanging branch.

The passengers were on the top deck of a No 3 bus travelling to Oxford Street when it hit the branch in Millbank, near the Houses of Parliament. The bus operator Connex had previously complained that the tree was a safety hazard and buses had to swing into the road to avoid a collision.

Westminster council chopped down the 100-year-old plane tree and two others near by yesterday in what it said was a "preventative measure". It will now survey 9,000 other street trees.

In another accident yesterday a 12-year-old boy died and more than 70 children were injured, 10 seriously, when a double-decker bus crashed off a narrow hump-backed bridge in south Wales.

The bus was carrying pupils from a local comprehensive at about 3.30pm, when it left the road and toppled into a field below. It crashed into a tree and came to rest on its side close to the village of Ystradowen, near Cowbridge in South Wales. One 15-year-old was trapped but freed by firefighters and airlifted to Morriston Hospital, Swansea. The driver was among those admitted to hospital.