UPDATE: Children in hospital after coach fire

The coach, on a day visit to Beaulieu Motor Museum, had been carrying around 60 children and teachers from Storrington First School when a fire broke out in the engine at around 8.45am.

All the passengers left the coach and were taken to another nearby coach. Three children have been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and no other injuries have been reported. The families of the children taken to hospital have been informed.

Sergeant Alan Spicer of Sussex Police’s Roads Policing Unit said: “I would like to praise the teachers and children from Storrington First School for the way they conducted themselves during this incident. They remained calm throughout and the children listened to the direction of the teachers, who did a fantastic job.”

There was some traffic disruption in the area while the incident was dealt with but this has now cleared.

Headteacher, Garry Smart, said: “I am very grateful for the superb response to the situation by the emergency services and staff.

“The children have been safely returned back to school and have been collected by their families.”

Earlier versions of this article suggested two children had been taken to hospital. This has been amended to three.