Video: school bus driver slammed for instructing forklift truck driver to hoist up marooned bus filled with pupils

Published on 28/06/2012 17:39

A school bus driver in Moray has been criticised after he instructed a forklift to free his bus from an embankment while schoolchildren were still on board.

Safety campaigners have condemned the incident which occurred after a bus overshot a junction and the back end got stuck on a grass verge at the side of the road.

Several schoolchildren were on the bus, owned by Deveron Coaches, when the accident happened near Fochabers.

It’s understood the children were from Milne’s Primary School in the small Moray town.

One of the schoolchildren captured the incident on a mobile phone and posted the incident on YouTube.

The footage shows young pupils sitting inside the vehicle as the forklift driver lifts the bus off the grass verge with a forklift.

Bus operators were said to be embarrassed over the driver’s actions and confirmed action had been taken against the driver.

It’s understood he was suspended following the incident a few weeks ago and was later reinstated on a final warning.

Yesterday (THU) a Moray Council spokesman said the local authority had not been contacted straight away.

He said: “We become aware of the incident some time after it occurred and the driver - who it appears took a wrong turning and then attempted to reverse - has been issued with a final warning by the council, although he is not employed by us.

“Having seen the video footage we are satisfied there was no risk of the vehicle toppling and that there was no danger to any of the children.”

But school bus safety campaigners have reported the incident to the Traffic Commissioner demanding that the driver faces a disciplinary hearing.