A GROUP of football fans had a dramatic escape at the weekend when the bus taking them home from a match in the North-East burst into flames.

The Burnley supporters were on their way home to Lancashire from Sunderland, where they had watched their team lose 2-1.

As they travelled through North Yorkshire on the A1, early on Saturday evening, the bus caught fire as it pulled on to the Little Bistro slip road, south of RAF Leeming.

The bus, a 52-seater Scania, was completely destroyed, but none of the 29 people on board was hurt.

"The fire started behind the dashboard and was caused by an electrical fault," said a fire service spokesman.

"No one was left on board the bus when we arrived.

"We received 30 calls about the fire in ten minutes and most of those were from mobile phones."

Another coach was called to take the fans on to their destination. One lane of the A1 was closed briefly while the bus was recovered.