a rather unfortunate accident

Further clarification has been given on the strange incident on Royal Parade as reported this week..

A bus driver arrested on suspicion of causing another driver grievous bodily harm has been released from bail and told there will be no further action against him.

Officers were called to Royal Parade at around 9.15pm on March 24 after reports that two buses had collided and a subsequent incident then saw one of the bus drivers suffer very serious injuries to his arm. Paramedics were also called to the scene and PlymouthLive heard from members of the public who said they later saw pools of blood on the pavement and trails of blood across the road.

A police spokesperson told PlymouthLive at the time that initial inquiries suggest that two buses - one from Citybus and another from Stagecoach - came into very slight contact with each other on the eastbound stretch of the road. One of the drivers, understood to be from Citybus, was then believed to have parked up and got out of their cab before remonstrating with the the Stagecoach driver who remained in their seat and responded through their cab window, according to reports.

PlymouthLive now understands that at some point the Stagecoach bus pulled away and the Citybus driver fell and his arm was either caught on the bus, or driven over by a rear wheel of the moving bus. He was taken to Derriford Hospital for treatment for a serious arm injury.

At the time of the incident, a cordon was put in place around the scene and the road was closed to all traffic as officers carried out their enquiries.

As a result the 59-year old Stagecoach driver was detained and he was asked to voluntarily attend Charles Cross police station the following day where he was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. A later report - given to PlymouthLive by Devon and Cornwall Police - stated this driver was arrested on suspicion of causing injury by dangerous driving. This information from the police given to Plymouth Live was incorrect and we would like to apologise for any distress this has caused.

Police have now told PlymouthLive the 59-year-old Stagecoach driver has been informed that investigators have examined all the CCTV available and a number of witness statements and as a result he was to be released from bail with no further action taken against him. A police spokesperson said: "We have taken accounts from a number of people who were at the incident and viewed CCTV footage from the buses. As a result we have informed the arrested bus driver and the injured man of our decision. We found that there was nothing malicious about the incident and rather it was an unfortunate accident.

I am glad that has all been cleared up.