AN EYEWITNESS has told of his horror as he watched a bus “rampage” through Kilwinning before smashing into a funeral director’s after the driver apparently ‘took unwell’.

Teenager Taylor Sneddon watched in disbelief as the 125 Stagecoach Irvine to Beith service hit into RB Steele’s in Byres Road, taking out half the building on Saturday night (June 20).

The 17-year-old told the Herald passengers managed to help steer the bus by squeezing their arms through the gap in the safety screen after he claims the driver fell ill.

He said: “I was standing outside of the Victoria Bar and the bus was parked at the traffic lights facing the Rainbow Nursery. The lights were still red when all of a sudden the bus just took off. Passengers got up and crowded around the driver’s cabin and I knew something was wrong. Then the bus just went on a rampage. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It smashed into a lampost on the nursery side of the road then veered off and smashed in to another one on the other side of the road. I ran and followed it in the hope I could do something to help.” Taylor, who works at the JSM Car Wash in Alexandra Terrace – just yards from the horror smash – ran after the bus as it careered and zig-zagged for half a mile from Howgate until it finally crashed into the funeral directors. The quick-thinking teenager sprung into action helping with the first aid attempts on the stricken driver who was being helped by passengers until paramedics arrived.

He said: “When I got there the windscreen of the bus was almost completely smashed in and the driver was covered in cuts from the glass. The passengers told me he’d fallen unwell and they were trying to keep him upright but the light was bad because it was late at night so I used the torchlight from my mobile phone to help. It’s a miracle no one on the bus or any pedestrians were hurt. If the bus had hit anyone, they could have been killed.” Emergency services have revealed that paramedics were on the scene within minutes and the driver and one passenger were taken to hospital.

Robert Steele who owns the funeral directors said although his business – which had just had its roof re-tiling completed that day – suffered some damage, he is relieved no one was hurt.

He told the Herald: “When you think what happened in Glasgow just a few months back it’s so fortunate no one was killed or seriously hurt. Our building has suffered quite extensive damage but that can be repaired, the main thing is that no one died.

“Our service room took the brunt of the damage but we are still open for business as usual. We hope everyone involved makes a speedy recovery.” Police and Stagecoach officials confirmed to the Herald that the driver and one passenger were taken to Crosshouse Hospital. The passenger was released that same night and the driver got out the following morning.

A Stagecoach spokesman said: “Safety is our absolute priority. We are assisting police as they look to establish the circumstances involved in the accident.”  A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “About 11.15pm on Saturday, June 20, Police Scotland were advised of an incident in Kilwinning were it was reported a single decker bus had collided with the funeral directors on Byres Road before striking a lamppost.

“All emergency services were in attendance, with the road being closed for several hours whilst Scottish Gas and Scottish Power made the area safe. A number of passengers received minor injuries, whilst the driver of the bus was taken to hospital for observations. Police Scotland are currently carrying out enquiries into the cause of the collision.” For the full story see this week's Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald.