A terrified Gatwick coach driver thought he had been shot when a brick was thrown through his windscreen.

James Broderick's coach was ambushed just after midnight on Monday as he was was en route to pick up passengers from the South Terminal.

Glass was sent flying into the 57-year-old's face and his shoulder was broken.

Mr Broderick, from Crawley, is now recovering at East Surrey Hospital, Redhill.

Yesterday he told how he thought he was going to die.

He said: "I heard this almighty bang, followed by immense pain. I didn't know what had happened at first and I thought I'd been shot.

"When I saw the blood pouring everywhere I started having thoughts that I would die. I didn't know where the blood was coming from, my arm or my rib cage."

Although suffering from severe shock, Mr Broderick managed to bring the coach to a safe stop and radio his colleagues at British Car Parks headquarters to call for an ambulance.

Mr Broderick said: "There I was in the coach, on my own, in the dark with blood gushing from me. I was absolutely terrified."

A police car was in Charlwood Road, Lowfield Heath, where the incident happened, and arrived at the scene within minutes.

An ambulance took Mr Broderick to hospital, where he underwent surgery for his shoulder and was checked for glass in his eye.

Mr Broderick had been employed by an agency to drive the coach and it was his first shift at Gatwick.

He was only on that route due to a last-minute change in the rota.

Mr Broderick said: "I was only meant to be doing a week's work. I fancied the idea of driving at Gatwick. I was counting on the money."

Detective Mick Jones, heading the investigation for Gatwick CID, said: "It is very fortunate that James controlled the bus and there was nobody else around otherwise the consequences could have been devastating.

"We would be looking at a murder inquiry."

Police believe the brick may have been thrown from a car which Mr Broderick remembers passing by him seconds before. The car was driving particularly slowly with its headlights on.

A coach driver who passed the scene of attack ten minutes earlier also reported seeing two men walking along Charlwood Road, towards Lowfield Heath.

Police are eager to talk to the men, who are both white, slim and in their 20s and may have vital clues to the attack.

Still very much in pain, Mr Broderick says he is "disgusted" by what has happened to him.

The father-of-three, who lived in Brighton for 11 years before separating from his wife, said: "What anybody was doing out in a country lane at that time of the night, taking out something on a coach driver just going about his business is beyond me.

"These people must know this kind of thing has caused deaths in the past, they have done nothing less than attempted murder."

Mr Broderick added that he was undecided whether he would drive a coach again as he was still in shock.

Anyone with information should call Gatwick CID on 0845 6070999 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.