CRASH investigators are probing the cause of a bus accident in Barnehurst on Monday in which six passengers were injured.

The 229 bus was travelling along Erith Road towards Erith, at about 2.40pm when it crashed into a lamppost near the junction of Grasmere Road.

More than 20 passengers some with minor injuries and some in shock, sat on the grass at the former pitch and putt course at Bursted Woods, as they waited for treatment from three ambulance crews who were dispatched to the scene.

Two people who complained of back pains were put on boards and had neck collars attached, and four other "walking wounded" were treated for minor injuries at the scene.

A total of five people were taken to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, for treatment.

Hayley Maher, 20, from Brook Street, Erith, who drove past the scene just after the accident, said: "There were skid marks all along the road.

"It looked like something had run out in front of the bus, or the driver had lost control.

"All these people were sitting on on the grassy slope, completely shocked. One little girl was cuddling her mum and crying her eyes out."

She said debris and broken glass from the bus, was scattered all over the road. "The bus looked like a write-off, and the lamppost was pulverised. Part of the righthand side of the bus was completely missing.

"The glass from the destination board just lay smashed in the roadway."

Once all the passengers had been removed from the scene, Erith Road was partially closed and cordoned off, while accident investigators began gathering evidence to establish the cause of the crash.

The bus is owned by London Central Buses and based just up the road from the crash site at Bexleyheath Bus Garage, which is also in Erith Road.