PENSIONERS have spoken of their escape after their holiday coach careered off the road, cut across the on-coming carriageway and came to rest in a field.

Alice Lusher, 78, and Vera Donnelly, 73, were among a party of holidaymakers travelling on the A64, near Knavesmire, in York, when their coach struck the back of a lorry.

They praised the driver, saying his ability to keep the coach upright saved their lives.

Vera said: "How he kept the coach from turning over I will never know. The coach kept moving from side to side. I was absolutely terrified."

Alice said she ended up on the floor of the coach after what seemed like ages for it to come to a stop.

She said: "We were just chattering away when the coach just started driving across to the other side of the carriageway. We didn't know what was happening.

"It was such a shock."

Vera added: "The front windscreen was all smashed in so we had to be helped out of the back of the coach.

"We had had a lovely holiday in Scarborough and we were just on our way back home."

The pair, both from Bolton, were with 16 other walking wounded who were transported to York District Hospital by ambulance or patient transport services.

All were discharged yesterday afternoon, but five others were detained.

Hospital consultant Mike Williams, who also worked during the Selby train disaster in February, said none of these five had life-threatening injuries.

He said there were some spinal fractures, head injuries and two with abdominal injuries.

He added: "All the patients that we are detaining are stable and do not need surgery."

Mr Williams co-ordinated the major incident plans, which went into operation at 11am yesterday, and went to the scene by air ambulance to ascertain the casualties to let the hospital know.

He said: "They have all been very, very lucky indeed. They have had an amazing escape. If that coach had hit anything else or overturned, we would have had a very different situation on our hands."

The A64 was closed for three hours after the incident. Diversions were put in place and long traffic queues built up before the road was reopened by 4pm.

Updated: 10:31 Saturday, September 08, 2001