TWENTY five children escaped a coach driving them to school only minutes before it burst into flames.

Firefighters were called at 8.18am to Vowels Lane, West Hoathly, near East Grinstead, yesterday.

Students had been travelling on the Crawley Luxury coach to Imberhorne School in East Grinstead, when some of them smelled burning.

They alerted the driver, who stopped the coach and got all the children off safely.

Minutes later the single-decker vehicle went up in flames, with the fire quickly engulfing the vehicle.

Two fire engines were sent to the scene but firefighters were unable to prevent the coach from being damaged beyond repair.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said all 25 of the students, aged between 11 and 16, were accounted for and no one was injured.

Imberhorne headteacher Martin Brown said: “Students said there was a smell of burning or something that wasn’t quite right and they alerted the driver.

“The driver very sensibly evacuated the coach and all the students were moved to a place of safety 50 metres away from the coach.

“After a short time the fire broke out and luckily all the students were away from the coach.

“They are all safe and well. An alternative coach was then sent and they were all transported to school.

“Students tend to play it down a bit but I’m sure it was alarming for them.

“We are mindful of that and keeping a close eye on students to make sure they don’t become shocked or upset by the experience.

“They were very lucky. The bus was travelling through some of the narrow lanes and moving fairly slowly so it was quite easy to alert the driver to their concerns.”

Parents were shocked to hear about the lucky escape.

Alex Burge, 49, from Turners Hill, near East Grinstead, had three children on board the bus.

He said: “I first heard about it when I had a text from my son and a call from my wife.

“After speaking to them I could tell they were fine.

“They said there had been a fire.

“I assumed it was a minor fire – but I didn’t realise until I saw the pictures how bad it was.”

The school bus service is commissioned by West Sussex County Council.

In 2015 a Crawley Luxury coach carrying seven schoolchildren crashed with a car. One person suffered serious injuries but the children were not hurt.

In 2012, the same school bus company was banned from the road after its drivers were repeatedly caught speeding and going through red lights. The firm had its operator’s licence suspended for seven days in January and its transport manager was disqualified for three months. At the time the company had 12 school contracts with the county council.

A spokeswoman for West Sussex County Council said: “We are conducting a full investigation with Crawley Luxury following this morning’s events.We cannot comment any further until that investigation is finished.”

Crawley Luxury, based in Stephenson Way, Crawley, declined to comment.

The Department for Transport's Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is investigating.

A spokeswoman said: "The DVSA is committed to making sure all vehicles on Great Britain's roads are safe to drive. 

"We are aware of the incident and we take reports of fires on coaches very seriously indeed.

"We will be investigating and taking appropriate action."