A DOUBLE-decker bus smashed into a wall and ground to a stop on top of live power cables after a collision on the Sandbanks peninsula.

Popuar driver Robbie Bartle was hospitalised with facial injuries and several passengers were treated at the scene following the accident involving a silver Audi Q5 at around 12.30pm, in which a Purbeck Breezer bus hit a wall and a tree on Banks Road, close to the junction with Salter Road.

The road was sealed from the mini roundabout, cutting access to the Studland ferry from the Poole side, as emergency services flooded the scene. Three ambulances attended, as well as several police cars and two fire engines.

See all our pictures and how the story unfolded in our live updates

Business analyst Irina Aksenova, 24, from Bournemouth, was travelling on the top floor of the bus and told the Echo there was panic at the moment of impact.

“One lady fell on the floor, children were screaming, everybody started to panic and shout ‘get off the bus’ – we didn’t know if it was going to explode,” she said.

“Everybody was trying to get out as quickly as possible. There were a lot of children and a lot of people on board because of the Air Festival.

“They opened the emergency exit at the back – the front of the bus was completely smashed. When we got to the bottom of the stairs there was blood on the floor from the driver. He had quite a few pieces of glass in his face and blood was dripping from his face and hands.

“People were helping other people get off. There were some teenage girls crying and calling home. Everyone was in shock. You think public transport is safe and you don’t expect to be in an accident. Luckily we weren’t hurt.”

The bus was described as “lightly loaded” by morebus, but is thought to have had more than two dozen people on board.

Banks road was partially reopened and the ferry service resumed around 1.45pm. Recovery of the bus was delayed while electrical engineers from Southern Electric made the power cables safe. The badly damaged bus was cleared just after 3.30pm. Workmen from Borough of Poole cleared the scene.

Ed Wills operations director at morebus, said they would be conducting a full internal investigation. He added: “The driver was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure - but fortunately sustained only minor soft tissue injuries. None of our customers have reported serious injuries.

“Safety is of utmost importance to us and our primary concern is for the welfare of our driver and the customers who sustained injuries and were being treated at the scene. We will be monitoring their progress closely.”

Inspector Matt Butler said: “We are conscious of the traffic congestion caused by the incident and road closures were to a minimum. We would like to thank the public for their patience.

Witnesses are asked to call Dorset Police on 101, quoting incident number 29:202.

The injured driver was Robbie Bartle, who had years’ of experience behind the wheel and received an award for his customer service last year.

Described as “one of our best” by morebus operations manager Adam Keen, was said to be “in good spirits” though he remained in hospital yesterday afternoon.

He said his colleague, who had been nominated for an internal award just days before, was “well-known and well liked by customers.”

Robbie, who joined Wilts and Dorset in 1998 following his bus driver father John Bartle into the industry, was honoured by Bournemouth University Students’ Union with their annual ‘You’re Brilliant’ award last December for his hard work and customer service.

He was described by his appreciative student passengers as “always happy and polite any time of the day.”

Commenting on the Daily Echo Facebook page he said: “Just to let you know I’m okay - just got couple cuts and bruises and damaged pride.”