A COMPANY transporting Thai schoolchildren when its bus ploughed into a railway bridge ripping off the roof has had its licence revoked.

Following an investigation by the Traffic Commissioner, Cavendish Liner Ltd will stop all licensed activities from July 19 following the crash at Clingan Road, Southbourne in April last year.

The driver - a British national - hit the bridge, tearing off the bus’s roof which landed in the middle of the road.

Two of the passengers - students at Cavendish School of English - were injured in the collision.

Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney said in his report: “The crash that catalysed this inquiry was a very serious one. I am told that four children were on the top deck of the bus and had the foresight to get themselves out of the way of the fast-approaching bridge.

“Had they been distracted in some way, had there been more children, had they not been physically able to get out of the way for whatever reason, the results would have been catastrophic.”

Mr Rooney said that operations manager, Nathan Santangelo-Barber, gave “an appalling explanation” that the interim transport manager at the time, Kirsty Fergusson, had failed to check that the route was suitable for a double-decker vehicle. No disciplinary action was taken against her because she was the only person in the office available to make such arrangements at the time, Mr Rooney was told.

The report also stated that the driver ignored three separate low bridge markers, was suspended, interviewed and dismissed.

“The root cause of the crash appears to have been the lack of continuous and effective management of the transport operation as the company was operating without professional competence, that is, without a transport manager, at the time,” Mr Rooney added.

“The issue is that the bus operation is a small adjunct to a large business. I do not think that the directors fully realise that the lack of professional competence in early 2016 could easily have caused many lives to be lost. This is not a business that is fit to operate public service vehicles.”

Mr Santangelo-Barber told the Daily Echo: “Unfortunately mismanagement ultimately led to the bridge incident in April 2016.

“Cavendish Liner has had the opportunity to apply for a new licence granted by the Traffic Commissioner but decided not to pursue this course of action as it was not in line with the interests of the company.

“To that end, the transportation needs for Cavendish School have been sourced elsewhere.”

It is the second time that the school has been involved in such an investigation. In 2013, Deputy Traffic Commissioner Fiona Harrington reduced their passenger transport licence after it was found that a number of its employees had been convicted for offences relating to their driving duties and records.