A bus driver has been hailed a hero after saving 11 children from plunging into a river by reversing off a collapsing bridge in Worcestershire.
Derek Trow was taking the pupils home from Lindridge St Lawrence CE Primary School in Tenbury Wells when he felt the road give away on him as he crossed the Eastham Bridge.
According to the BBC, Trow managed to back up moments before the bridge crumbled into the River Teme around 3.30pm on Tuesday.
The 62-year-old told the broadcaster that there was an "almighty row and the apex collapsed" leaving a drop of about three metres.
He added: "We would have gone down there. We were lucky."
Trow explained that there was two buses, and he was in the lead vehicle, when he noticed some of the "road had given away".
Trow then gestured to the bus behind him to move, and reversed off the bridge.
He said: "I've been driving buses for about 17 years and that's where your training kicks in. You just do it."
Freddie, 10, has told how he was sitting on the bus with his best friend when he saw the bridge crumble.
The BBC quoted him as saying: "We saw a big splash in the river but I don't think the bus driver saw it so we carried on going [to] about a quarter of the way up the bridge. Then we saw the other side going."
The Grade II listed bridge was built in 1793 and was originally a toll road until the council made it free in 1907.
Worcestershire County Council said the area had been made safe and an investigation had been launched into what happened.
West Mercia Police was called out to the A443 in Lindridge to divert traffic.