THE driver of the bus which partially demolished a York house will not face any prosecution after tests revealed he suffers from epilepsy.

Police revealed that Dennis Goad was forced to surrender his licence - and said he would never drive a bus again.

PC Martyn Smith said medical tests had indicated that the First bus driver suffered from "petit mal" epilepsy, which meant he could black out for just a second or two without realising it.

He said that neither the driver nor the company had been aware of the condition prior to the accident, which happened last September.

The crash happened when the bus was turning right into Lawrence Street from the nearby First depot off James Street.

Sisters Mary Mullen and Bernadette Moore were asleep in their home when the bus struck the corner of the building, sending masonry crashing down.

Mary, who has lived there all her life, said afterwards she thought at first that a bomb had gone off.

"All you could see was debris and dust," she said later. "Gas was leaking and people outside were screaming: 'Get out, Mary!'."

The crash sparked a lengthy police investigation, which only ended recently following the completion of medical tests.

PC Smith said the file had been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, which had decided to take no action, and the matter would be left on the file.

PC Smith said: "Mr Goad has been diagnosed with epilepsy. He has been in touch with Swansea and has surrendered his licence.

"He will not be able to drive a car again for at least a year under medication, but could not drive a bus again for ten years without medication. Realistically, he will never drive a bus again.

"You could see this as a far greater punishment than anything the courts would have imposed, had there been a prosecution."

Peter Edwards, First commercial director, said: "After quite a protracted series of medical tests, the driver was found to have a medical condition. That could have affected his ability at the wheel.

"Following the medical tests, the DVLA has taken away his licence and the decision by the police is that they will not be bringing any charges."

Mary and Bernadette said today they had been informed recently that the driver was not going to be prosecuted, but not the reason why.

After being told the reason by the Evening Press, they said they accepted the decision. "If he is ill, what can I say? We would have to accept it," said Mary.

"I am just glad that the man wasn't killed and that we are alive. It could have been much worse."

She said that while the house had been rebuilt, they were still not able to move back in.

"There's a lot still to be done inside," she said, adding that she hoped they might finally be able to return by June.

Updated: 09:36 Thursday, March 30, 2006