CALLS have been made for Blackburn with Darwen Council to extend gritting after a school bus carrying children crashed into a wall.

The double decker carrying children from Tauheedul Boys’ School crashed in Shear Brow at around 7am on Wednesday.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Nobody was injured in the incident. But Shear Brow residents, including ward councillor Hussain Akhtar, had to step in to help move the bus and direct traffic.

The road is a steep hill, and the bus was travelling downwards when it skidded and crashed — prompting calls for more effective gritting in future.

Cllr Akhtar borrowed a shovel to help move grit from yellow grit boxes and donned a high-visibility jacket in order to direct traffic.

The Met Office has issued a level-three alert for the North West of England — meaning that severe weather is now occurring.

And with more snow forecast, Cllr Akhtar has called on the council to grit the steep roads in Shear Brow to prevent further accidents.

He said: “People are concerned about what has happened. Luckily nobody was injured but there could be another accident.

“The road is a main road. I do not know why they have not gritted it. It should be done. I had to apologise to the people who suffered that the council had not gritted the road.”

Shear Brow resident Faz Patel said: “I am fed up with it. Every year we have a problem with gritting.

“It is a hilly area and they only do certain streets — it is dangerous. I would welcome a review of the council’s gritting procedures.”

A Blackburn with Darwen Council spokesman said the road was treated a number of times up to Wednesday morning. The spokesman said that the incident would be investigated.

“Shear Brow is a priority route and was treated a number of times during the course of our operations from 7pm on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

“Forward planning is key during periods of adverse weather and up-to-date information can be found on BwDWinter (Facebook and Twitter).

“As always, we continue to urge motorists to adapt to the conditions during periods of adverse weather. we are not able to comment on an accident which will be under investigation.”

A Lancashire Police spokeswoman said the crash had been reported to police but nobody was seriously injured.