Runaway bus inches from disaster

It is a moment that the driver of the No 15 bus will be keen to forget.

After parking outside Paddington station he nipped off for a break - but, police believe, the handbrake had not been secured. The result is shown here.

By the time he had returned the bus had careered down a slope, smashed through some iron railings and was teetering on the edge of a ramp.

The driver of the taxi parked below the runaway bus had been standing beside his vehicle only moments before. Had he not got back into the taxi when he did, emergency workers say he could have been killed by falling debris. As it was the man had to be taken to hospital, suffering from shock.

A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said: "The railings were overhanging the taxi ramp and the bus collided with the railings. The driver of the taxi below had been polishing his car only moments before this happened and would almost certainly have been killed by the falling iron railings if he had not got back into his car

"Also, the bus could easily have crashed over the edge, which would have been disastrous."

The incident happened just before noon yesterday, and was witnessed by shocked passers-by.

Terry Obioro, 30, said: "The bus just crashed into the railings. It seemed to just be going in its own direction. If it had toppled over onto that taxi there is no chance the driver would have made it. But thankfully it came to a stop, just sort of hanging off a little."

A police spokesman said it was believed the handbrake had not been secured properly. He added: "At

11.59am officers discovered a bus in collision with railings. The bus did not have any passengers on board but it was quite badly damaged and the railings were pushed and broken."