The driver of a coach which plunged down a ravine in South Africa, killing 27 British tourists and injuring a Worthing woman, was today jailed for six years.

Titus Dube, 42, was also banned from driving for six years at Lydenburg Regional Court after pleading guilty to culpable homicide for his role in the September 1999 tragedy.

Lesley Dick, from Worthing, suffered a broken collarbone, two broken ribs and cuts to her face and legs in the crash.

Magistrate Dries Lamprecht said Dube acted with "gross negligence" when he pressed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal, sending the bus hurtling off a treacherous mountain pass.

The magistrate told Dube that relatives of the victims of the horror smash at Long Tom Pass would expect him to be punished.

Passing sentence, Mr Lamprecht said: "You unlawfully killed not one but 28 people and seriously injured eight others in the same process.

"One of them is still in a coma and the chances of recovery are slim.

"I think that a sentence that is too lenient will ignore the demand for vengeance and do an injustice to society both locally and abroad."

Dube, a father-of-five from Johannesburg, stood motionless in the dock as sentence was passed.

The court heard that terrified passengers had begged Dube to slow down as the coach hurtled along at up to 118kmh (73mph), but he claimed the brakes had failed.

Twenty-six Britons and a South African tour guide died instantly in the crash, while another Briton died later in hospital.

The force of the impact tore the roof from the bus and flung the bodies of some victims into trees.