CHILDREN were left shaken and scared after two coaches were involved in a crash on a school trip.

Sixteen students from Rednock School, in Dursley, were taken to hospital following the accident, which happened on Monday morning while the children were on their way to the West Midlands Safari Park.

The children were checked for whiplash injuries but none of the pupils was seriously hurt.

Victoria Bear, 12, was on one of the coaches involved in the crash and said she is so shaken she doesn’t want to get on a bus again.

"It was really scary, I saw the collision as I was looking out of the window," said Victoria, of Dursley.

"The coach stopped really suddenly. Those who thought they were hurt went in an ambulance and the rest of us had to wait at a nearby campsite."

Victoria’s mum Michelle Barnes said she was "worried to death" about her daughter after hearing about the accident on the news.

"I just didn’t know what to think, we had no idea whether she was OK or whether she was lying in hospital.

"We didn’t hear anything from the school so we just had to wait until they came back in the afternoon," she said.

David Alexander, headteacher at the school, said the actions of the coach drivers were "heroic".

"When we were told about the crash in the morning we were really worried and concerned about the children, it is just a nightmare scenario," he said.

"Information came through in drips and we didn't get to find out how all the children were until about 2.15pm."

Mr Alexander also praised the actions of the head of year seven Lorraine Merchant, who found a nearby campsite for the children to wait in until they were picked up by two new coaches and taken back to school.

"We feel very lucky that no one was seriously hurt, it was not as bad as we first feared," added Mr Alexander.

"The children's behaviour was exemplary. Some students were understandably very shaken by the incident, but many came back to school the next day and got on with work, which was excellent to see."

The incident happened at around 10am on Monday morning on the A449 near Claines, in Worcestershire.

Two Mercedes coaches were both in collision with a Vauxhall Zafira. A spokesman for West Mercia Police said that investigations were underway into how the collision occurred.

Students with suspected whiplash injuries were taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital and returned later the same day.

For dramatic pictures of the crash see tomorrow's Gazette.