A York woman has told of the terrifying experience when a coach she and her two daughters were travelling on lost all its lights at night on a busy main road.

Carol Earp, of Bishopthorpe Road, criticised coach company National Express because of the lack of emergency equipment on the vehicle, saying the phone on board could not making outgoing calls, and there was no hazard light to warn other drivers.

She said the unlit coach was stuck on a bend on a single carriageway section of the A64 between Leeds and Tadcaster, and other vehicles had to swing round it and then swerve to avoid oncoming traffic.

In the end, the driver crawled along until he could get into a lay-by using only his indicator light for illumination, and used his own mobile to call the police.

Mrs Earp said the drama unfolded last Sunday night when she was travelling home from Manchester with her daughters Kelly, 22, and Kristan, 20.

All the other passengers got off at Leeds and the lights went out while they were still travelling in West Yorkshire.

She said: "I can't praise the driver enough, in my eyes he was a hero. He kept the bus on the road rather than going into a ditch, and then he went and stood behind the bus to try flag down traffic."

But she was angry about the lack of safety equipment and said she wanted to draw the situation to the attention of other passengers.

"We were the only three passengers on board and did everything the driver told us to. If it had been a full coach there may have been panic and people leaving the coach - which apparently is the worst thing to do - which could have resulted in tragedy," said Mrs Earp.

She called for adequate safety measures to be installed in all coaches, buses and public transport, adding: "I would have gladly paid more money for my ticket if it meant travel was safer."

A spokesman for National Express today said it was investigating the matter.