CHILDREN were sent home suffering from headaches and nausea after travelling on a school bus filled with fumes from a faulty heater motor.

Children from St Wilfrid's High School, Blackburn, told the driver of the Stagecoach bus they could smell burning on their way to school.

The driver immediately stopped the bus, evacuated the children and telephoned for help.

Stagecoach Ribble operations manager, Maq Alibhai, said: "As soon as the bus come back to the depot we investigated the cause of the problem and it turned out to be a bearing on the heater which had collapsed.

"A plastic bit was rubbing against some metal, creating a smell of burning.

"As soon as the children brought it to the attention of the driver he stopped the bus and took them off. They were late for school but I went with them to explain what had happened."

St Wilfrid's marketing and public relations co-ordinator, Harold Gillibrand, said: "The children were about 30 minutes late for school and Mr Alibhai suggested we check them out because of the fumes.

"Most of them were able to go into class but 14 of them were sent home suffering from headaches and nausea.

"We advised parents to get them checked by a doctor."

Mr Alibhai added: "All our buses have regular maintenance checks but this was a mechanical fault which would not have been detected."

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