Bus driver faints at the wheel in Catherine Street, St Albans (From This Is Local London)

Bus driver faints at the wheel in Catherine Street, St Albans

4:33pm Thursday 22nd April 2010 in

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A BUS driver fainted at the wheel causing the single-decker vehicle to swerve into a shop front in the centre of St Albans this afternoon.

The emergency services were called to Reddies in Catherine Street at 2.40pm.

Passengers reportedly watched anxiously as the driver slumped over the wheel and the bus slowly smashed into the pawnbrokers.

Mark Jones, manager at the shop, said he was serving a customer at the time of the crash.

The 35-year-old added: “I was speaking to a customer when we saw the bus slowly coming towards the shop and then smash into the window frame.

“As I went over to the bus I opened it with the emergency button and saw the driver was slumped over the wheel unconscious.”

The wooden frame of the shop window and the top of the door have been damaged by the smash. The bus missed the glass and Mark said it will cost around £1,000 to get the damage fixed.

Following the crash, officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary closed Catherine Street at its junction with Drovers Way, bringing traffic to a halt while the bus was recovered.

A fast response car and ambulance from St Albans were also called to the scene. The 42-year-old driver had regained consciousness when they arrived and he was taken to Watford General Hospital.