Passengers evacuated after double decker bus bursts into flames in Nuneham Courtenay

Passengers have been led to safety after a double decker bus caught fire in an Oxfordshire village.

The incident blocked the road and led to long delays in Nuneham Courtenay on Saturday afternoon.

No one was injured and the fire service worked quickly to prevent oil escaping into the drains.

Incident Commander Christian Orr said: "This was a difficult incident to deal with, because as well as a severe fire, the diesel tank of the bus had split, so we needed to stop large quantities of diesel from entering the drains and causing possible environmental damage.

"The driver did an excellent job of ensuring all passengers had been evacuated from the bus, and the road was reopened as soon as it was safe to do so."

A spokesperson for Thames Travel said: “We can confirm one of our vehicles on our X40 service was involved in a thermal incident in Nuneham Courtenay on Saturday.

“A small number of passengers were on-board at the time and were evacuated safety along with our driver.

"There were no injuries and the passengers were transferred onto our next service.

"Our driver contacted the emergency services who attended the scene and we have now opened an internal investigation into the cause of the incident.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and would like to reassure passengers that we have an excellent safety record, all our vehicles undergo regular, extensive checks and maintenance and incidents of this nature are extremely rare.”