Jersey bus catches fire with passengers still on board

• Dramatic footage shows emergency services arriving with the bus on fire. Video from David Mullen

A public bus has caught fire in Jersey with around a dozen people still on board.

The bus company has described the damage as "catastrophic" with the vehicle "probably written off" but says everyone was evacuated from the scene safely.

The fire has been put out by the emergency services and police have reopened the road.

Liberty Bus says there will be a thorough investigation to find the cause and it has reassured passengers that they can safely travel on the rest of its fleet.

They add this is the first incident of any kind in more than ten years of operating the island's bus service.

One passenger told ITV News they believed the vehicle had overheated but soon realised it was more serious when they saw flames erupting from the back of the bus.

"We just thought it had broken down, but there was smoke," David Mullen explained.

"Then the driver was shouting for us to get off the bus because it was on fire."

The 12a Liberty Bus was on its route from St Helier to Corbiere on Friday morning (3 March) when the driver stopped on La Route de La Baie at around 7am to check an engine fault.

They spotted flames from the back of the vehicle and immediately evacuated the 11 people on board before calling 999.

Mr Mullen explained how his colleagues, who were also on board, started knocking on nearby residents' doors to get them to leave their homes in case the bus exploded.

Liberty Bus' Director Kevin Hart has praised the quick action of their driver and firefighters who arrived at the scene within minutes.

"Unfortunately there's quite catastrophic damage to the bus," he said.

"The main thing is always the safety of our customers and our driver who did exactly as he should by evacuating people away from the scene."

The passengers were picked up by a passing school bus around 15 minutes later to continue their journey.