A DRIVER and his four passengers had a lucky escape after their bus crashed into a back garden.

The Thamesdown Transport service 48 bus, which was travelling from Swindon to Marlborough, collided with a tree in Oxford Street in Aldbourne yesterday after the driver suffered “a medical incident”.

The four passengers escaped uninjured but the driver was taken to Great Western Hospital with minor head injuries.

PC Jay Clifton, who attended the scene, said: “The bus driver had a medical incident as he came down the hill, which caused him to lose control of the bus. The bus came off the road and into the garden of the premises.

“He is being treated at hospital. It is just one of those unfortunate things that he became unwell at the wheel. It is a very rare thing.”

The driver, whose bus left Swindon at 9.45am, was treated at the scene by an Ambulance crew shortly after the incident at 10.15am.

The road was closed for an hour while a recovery vehicle towed the bus away.

Another bus collected the passengers so they could continue their journey.

A spokesman for Thamesdown Transport said: “We are fully co-operating with the police to understand the causes of this incident on service 48.

“The driver is currently in the Great Western Hospital with a minor head injury and we believe that no injuries were sustained by passengers.

“We would like to thank the local residents and walkers in the area for their assistance and concern when this incident happened.”

Great Western Ambulance Service was called by police at 10.20am.

A spokesman said: “The caller was initially concerned for the driver.

“An ambulance crew arrived at the scene at about 10.30am. The bus driver was shaken up and he had a head wound, but it was not thought to be serious. He received treatment at the scene.”

Police are still investigating the cause of the incident.

Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to call Wiltshire Police on 101.