Bus driver held on suspicion of drink-driving after crashing into parked car

A BUS driver was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after crashing a double-decker into a parked car.

The number 90 Broadmead First bus smashed into the white Mini Cooper belonging to Sarah Chuk on St John's Lane, on Sunday morning.

Sarah and her boyfriend Michael were awoken at about 7am by the car's alarm going off outside his house and thought nothing of it.

But Michael looked out of the window and was about to deactivate the alarm with the car keys when he saw the damage and shouted out. First Bus confirmed a maximum of six passengers were on board at the time.

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Sarah, 25, said: "The road was pretty empty, as it was Sunday morning. I was woken up by the continuous alarm buzzing from my car.

"The alarm is quite sensitive and sometimes goes off when cars go past too fast. But when I popped my head out the window to check, what I saw was jaw dropping.

"My car had bounced back about 10 metres from the impact and hit another car, badly damaging a Vauxhall Corsa.

"It looked like there were about 10 passengers on the bus. My boyfriend asked the driver how he had crashed into my car and the driver said he didn't know."

Shocked pedestrians gathered at the scene, some taking pictures while others called the emergency services.

None of the passengers or the driver were injured.

Sarah had owned her beloved 58-reg car from new and had only done about 18,000 miles in it.

Her insurance company is now liaising with First's insurers to assess whether it will be a write-off or can be repaired.

In the meantime, Sarah has to rely on her parents to take her to work at a Chinese supermarket, from her home in Redcliffe.

"It was really lucky no-one was badly hurt," the 25-year-old added. "I read in the Post about an elderly woman who died earlier this year when she was on a bus and it stopped suddenly.

"If I had been in my car pulling away, I dread to think what might have happened. This morning I forgot what had happened, went out to get into my car as usual then realised it wasn't there."

A police spokeswoman Jenny Bigwood said: "Police were called to the scene of a collision between a bus and a parked car. A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving. He has been bailed, pending further inquiries, until a date in November."

A First Bus spokesman said: "We can confirm that last Sunday, at approximately 7am, an incident occurred involving the service 90 bus on St John's Lane in Bedminster. We are assisting police with their inquiries and completing our own internal investigation.

"A maximum of six passengers were on board. The incident did not result in any injuries."