AN elderly couple were injured when their car crashed into an oncoming bus at the junction of Lendal Bridge and Station Avenue in York.

According to North Yorkshire Police the green Seat Cordoba, driven by Harry Groves from York, was on the wrong side of the road as it turned left from Station Avenue on to Lendal Bridge and struck the front of the single-decker First York bus, which was travelling towards Station Rise.

It is not yet known what caused the accident, but police believe that Mr Groves may have been taken ill at the wheel.

Mr Groves, 74, and his wife, Elma, were both taken to York District Hospital by ambulance after the accident at about 1.30pm yesterday.

She was later discharged but Mr Groves was kept in overnight and is said to be in a comfortable condition.

The car was shunted backwards by the force of the impact and collided with the black Ford Fiesta directly behind it. The male driver of the Fiesta and two female passengers, all from York, were unhurt.

The female bus driver was shocked by the incident, but otherwise unhurt and none of her passengers were injured.

Inspector Paul Bilton, of the force road policing group, said: "It would appear that we have a single decker bus coming over Lendal Bridge towards Station Rise when a Seat saloon car has come into the Station Road archway to go over Lendal Bridge in the opposite direction.

"Either the driver has been taken ill at the wheel or he's misjudged the turn, and gone into the front of the bus."

Traffic was brought to a standstill as police and ambulance crews worked to clear the scene.

But just 40 minutes after the collision, motorists were on the move again.

An eye witness, who did not want to be named, said: "I just can't understand how he veered across the road, whether it was a sneezing fit or a heart attack."

Updated: 10:53 Friday, September 07, 2001