THE moment an Oxford Tube coach overturned on a motorway slip road has been relived by the passengers.

People on board described how the 87-seat Van Hool vehicle took the wrong exit from the M40 and flipped as it hit a crash barrier.

Statements from some of the 32 passengers were read at Oxford Crown Court yesterday as driver Mark Woodward went on trial.

The 58-year-old denies one count of dangerous driving in relation to the incident at Junction 7 of the motorway at Great Milton on December 11 last year.

Rebecca McGibben, who was sitting at the front of the top deck with her mother Christine, said the pair both “instantly realised” Woodward had got off at junction seven for Thame instead of junction eight for Oxford.

In a statement read to jurors, she said: “The bus was travelling at about 60mph, I would say. The driver had slowed and then started to accelerate again.

“I realised we would not be able to negotiate the turn.

“I remember saying ‘we’re not going to make it, we’re not going to make it’. I think we hit the kerb.

“People were crying out, obviously realising something was wrong.

“I remember hearing people screaming and the sound of the glass breaking.”

She added: “It seemed completely to me he (Woodward) thought he was on the A40 exit.

“I firmly believe it was a mistake. It was just as if he had been on auto-pilot. It seemed like he just made an honest mistake.”

Mrs McGibben’s mother said: “I remember thinking ‘Jesus, we’re not going to make it’. We crashed and I was left dangling in my seat, held in by my seatbelt. I couldn’t understand why the driver didn’t slow down as the Thame turn-off is so different to the Oxford one.”

Fellow passenger Joan Baxter said she spoke to Woodward, of Beaumaris Close, Banbury, after the crash.

She said: “He said ‘my leg hurts like hell but I’m more worried about my career’.”

In his 999 call played in court, Woodward was asked by the operator what he remembered.

He replied: “I have no bloody clue. I don’t know what the hell, I don’t know.”

The trial continues.