A 21-YEAR-OLD woman was taken to hospital yesterday after being knocked down by a bus packed with schoolchildren. The accident happened in Church Street, Blackburn, at 3.45pm. Paramedics and police were on the scene within minutes.

Nichola Coles, of Alice Street, Darwen, suffered a broken leg and was detained in Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

The impact of the collision caused the windscreen of the single decker Volvo bus to smash.

School children travelling from St Wilfrid's School were left shaken after the incident and many were in tears.

Driver John Gellar, 31, of Holly Street, Burnley, said: "She came out from behind a parked van on the right hand side of the road.

"I have been driving for 19 years and on buses for nine and I have never experienced anything like this. I am really shaken up." One witness said: "It was horrible. I think she thought she could make it across in time."