Three buses sparked chaos in Oxford today after a city centre smash, writes Paul Harris.

A 52-year-old woman cyclist suffered leg injuries but no passengers were hurt.

One of the drivers had a lucky escape when his cab was crumpled after he clipped one bus and crashed into another.

Eye-witnesses reported that an empty Stagecoach bus overtook a line of buses waiting to pick up passengers in Queen Street, outside Marks & Spencer, at 9.30am. They saw it clip the right-hand side of one bus, hit a pavement rubbish bin, strike a flower arrangement and then career into the back of the third bus.

Graduate Polly Walton, 23, of Brasenose College, said: "It was awful. There was glass and soil - you had to dodge to get out of the way. It was scary."

She added: "The cyclist was riding down outside M&S. His bike was a bit mangled."

The windscreen of the first bus was smashed and the floor strewn with glass and pieces of twisted metal.

The rear window of the third bus, owned by Oxford Bus Company, was smashed, together with bodywork. Street seller Simon Smith, of Cowley, said: "It was a bit of a wallop."

Fragments of glass were spread across Queen Street, which was sealed off by traffic police. Accident investigators checked the positioning of the vehicles and interviewed eye-witnesses to find out the cause.

One driver, aged 64, was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Bus company Stagecoach refused to comment until he had been interviewed.

Traffic policeman Pc Steve Seaman said at the scene: "We are conducting further inquiries including an examination of the vehicles."

Story date: Wednesday 14 April

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