A WITNESS to Tuesday's double-decker bus crash near Cannington has described the moment she heard shouting and screaming as people helped others escape the wrecked vehicle.

The double-decker bus carrying workers to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station overturned on the A39 between Cannington and Bridgwater, though the 70 passengers escaped serious injury.

The crash believed to have involved a motorcycle happened around 6am in icy conditions after a weather warning for ice in Somerset.

A Somerset NHS spokesperson revealed a total of 56 people were treated at hospitals in Bridgwater and Taunton for injuries following the crash, with three taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol with what were described as 'significant' injuries.

The local resident told GB News: “I thought I was dreaming, I heard a big bang. I heard a couple of scrapes and bangs and then I heard shouting and some screams.

“It took me about 5 or 10 minutes to realise that it wasn't dreaming. There's obviously been an accident out on the main road.

“Basically, I walked upstairs, I've got children upstairs, I went upstairs to look out the window, I could see the top of the bus and obviously assumed that it was a bad accident.

“And then all the children were awake and obviously panicking to see what was happening and trying to reassure them. And then within minutes emergency services were on the scene.”

She added: “So I mean, I've been a resident here for four years. I use this road daily. There's always surface water on the road, obviously more so this time of year, especially when we've had heavy rainfall."

Residents have said that water from the Quantock Hills tends to collect on the surface of the A39 during bad weather.

The force said it was called to 100 incidents in the space of five hours early on Tuesday.

Aerial footage showed the bus on its side on the verge of the road which had been taped off and closed until the late afternoon.

Avon and Somerset Police declared a major incident, with the Dorset and Somerset air ambulance sent to the scene.

The South Western Ambulance Service sent 23 double-crewed land ambulances, two critical care teams, and two hazardous area response teams.

On Tuesday afternoon a Hinkley Point C spokesperson said that police were recovering the vehicle with a view to opening the road.

They added: “Safety of our workforce is of paramount importance to us, and we will assist the police as they investigate the cause of the incident."

The MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Ian Liddell-Grainger called for a full investigation into the crash.

In a statement he said: “We absolutely most get to the bottom of why this crash occurred because EDF is very conscious of the need to maintain the highest safety standards for the protection of their workers.”