MORE than 20 youngsters were evacuated from their school bus when smoke started entering the cabin.

The pupils, from Rhyddings High School, Oswaldtwistle, were on their way home when the incident happened at 3.45pm yesterday in Cabin End Row, Knuzden.

A fire brigade spokesman said smoke had entered the cabin as a result of an electrical fault which overheated the engine.

The driver of the Northern Blue bus immediately got the pupils off and managed to extinguish the outbreak before the fire brigade arrived.

Rhyddings pupil Danielle Smith, 11, of Holden Street, Belthorn, said: "The driver told us it was on fire. Everyone was told to get off quickly, but there was no panic. We had to wait at the side of the road.

"The driver managed to put it out himself."

Danielle was picked up by a friend's parent after she had been alerted by mobile phone, but a spokesman for Northern Blue said they immediately sent a replacement bus to the scene to take pupils home.

The fire brigade spokesman said: "The driver did well to act promptly. The engine had overheated and with oil and grease around it could have got worse.

"He did the right thing."

Northern Blue said the driver was just happy that the children had got off the bus safely and that he had been able to deal with the incident. He had gone straight back to work.