Manhole cover collapses under wheel of uni bus
Passengers had to get off their bus in Bath when it became stuck in a manhole after reportedly tried to avoid a crash with another bus. First Bus said police have been informed about the incident at the congested junction at Manvers Street and North Parade in Bath city centre. The incident happened last Thursday morning on a double decker U1 which goes up to the University of Bath campus in Claverton Down. William Easdown, who founded the group Bath Space Society for university students interested in space, was one of the passengers. He said: “It happened at about 8.50am when the double decker full of students heading up to uni was trying to get out the way of a First bendy bus that was swinging left from North Parade onto Manvers Street. “The two buses got stuck for a minute, then the double decker moved up onto the pavement, allowing the bendy to get past, but the driver then realised he was stuck, had a look and told everyone to get off. “All the students (including me) who’d been on the double decker walked to the bus stop on North Parade by the leisure centre to wait for another bus to pick them up from there. “One full bus stopped, the driver called the depot and an empty double decker arrived 5-10 mins later.” Another passenger said that no one was hurt in the incident “but they didn’t look very happy having to get off and get another bus”. First West of England’s head of operations Chris Hanson said: “We are aware of an incident involving a U1 service on Manvers Street. “The bus was stuck for 10 minutes, during which time our customers were transferred onto another service. “The driver checked the bus for damage and found that it could remain in service. The incident has been reported to the police and an internal investigation will take place. We apologise to our customers and other road users who may have been delayed by this incident.” The manhole was quickly sealed off with police tape. A spokeswoman for B&NES Council said: “The council has made the manhole safe and notified BT who will attend site today and undertake the repair as a matter of urgency. The time to complete the repair will be dependent on site conditions and the materials required. The council will continue to monitor the situation.”