MORE than 150 children walked away from an horrific accident involving three coaches and a petrol tanker on one of Britain's most dangerous roads yesterday.

One of the coach drivers, a woman in her thirties, had to be airlifted to hospital with serious leg injuries following the multi-vehicle crash on the A66 trans-Pennine route.

More than 50 children, aged between 12 and 14, were taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries.

Witnesses and police said that the crash could have been much worse and it was lucky that no one was killed.

The accident happened at 10.30am near Ravensworth, North Yorkshire - about five miles west of Scotch Corner - when a van turned right into the car park of the Fox Hall Inn.

Two of the coaches and the petrol tanker behind the van slowed down but the third coach at the rear did not.

"The rest of the vehicles slowed but for some reason the last coach collided and shunted them all forward," said Traffic Sergeant Steve Ball, of North Yorkshire Police. "It was absolute mayhem to say the least."

The pupils, from John Ogilvie High School in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, were on an excursion to Lightwater Valley theme park near Ripon, North Yorkshire.

All the vehicles had been heading towards Scotch Corner on a single carriageway section of the road. A fourth coach, also carrying schoolchildren, was not involved in the accident.

Martyn Dee, 33, a landscape contractor from Seaham, County Durham, was working on a fence at the roadside pub when the accident happened.

"There was a lot of screaming and a lot of confusion," he said. "We called the police and ambulance, and one of the lads I work with, Jimmy Kennedy, went out to stop the traffic travelling in the other direction.

"There was a lot of tears, but we were mostly worried about the driver in the end bus, she was screaming a lot.

"She was trapped in her seat from the top of her legs down. She was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"The children were mostly walking wounded, a few were limping and there was a bit of blood.

"It could have been a lot worse. This is a fast road with a 60mph speed limit, but when you stand next to the road, with wagons and buses going past, it feels a lot faster."

The female driver was trapped in her coach for almost an hour and a half while she was cut free by firefighters.

She was taken by air ambulance to the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough. Her condition was last night described as comfortable.

Fifty-six children were treated at Darlington Memorial Hospital. Four were detained for observation for whiplash and other injuries.

Diane Swainston, landlady at the Fox Hall Inn, said: "The children seemed to be quite shook up by it all and were really shocked and upset.

"There were lots of bumps and bruises and black eyes and they were obviously shaken by it."

Sgt Ball said: "There was a lot of confusion and children running about and there was a major concern for their safety.

"It certainly could have been a lot worse especially with the tanker involved. Fortunately, we've been very lucky on this occasion."

Although the petrol tanker, which was damaged at the back, was not thought to have been full of fuel, it was quickly removed from the scene.

Later, the remaining children were driven away in an undamaged coach, waving and smiling at onlookers.

Police closed off the A66 for most of the day while accident investigators inspected the scene. The road finally re-opened at 5.20pm last night.

An upgrade of the A66 between Scotch Corner and the Cumbrian border was agreed earlier this year after a campaign spearheaded by The Northern Echo.

The road - with its mix of dual and single carriageway - has claimed more than 70 lives in the past ten years.

The upgrade will involve dualling two sections from Greta Bridge to Stephen Bank and from Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner. There will also be 55 fewer junctions and farm accesses.