STAGECOACH has been slammed for ‘running a dangerous service” and “cutting corners” after a crash near Totnes which saw 37 people injured – 10 seriously.

The Gold Service double decker driven by inexperienced 19-year-old driver, Kameron Allen, left the road and ended up on its side in a field off the A385 at Longcombe Cross in October 2019.

The Traffic Commissioner has released a report into the crash, which was attended by more than 140 police officers, paramedics and firefighters.

The commissioner, Kevin Rooney, said “corners were cut,” and that “commercial considerations overtook safety.”

He said it was “more likely than not, Stagecoach Devon Ltd ran a service that was dangerous to the public.”

The Commissioner said: “I make that finding because it failed to comply with its own driver training procedures and Kameron Allan was not provided with the follow-up support and mentoring that the company’s own procedures said he should get.

“He was allocated a duty for which he had not been trained.”

The inquiry was told the law forbids drivers under the age of 21 on routes of more than 50km. Stagecoach Devon argued that the service was split into two sections, so the rule did not apply. The Commissioner described the argument that it was two routes rather than one as “pure fiction”.

The Commissioner said: “The Stagecoach Gold service from Torquay to Plymouth is advertised as a single service although registered as two connecting services, Torquay to Totnes and Totnes to Plymouth. The vehicle is the same. The driver is the same. The service retains the same name. There is a two-minute layover in Totnes. Any suggestion that it is two separate routes is pure fiction.”

Mr Allan, who the hearing was told now works for Lothian Bus, had passed his Passenger Carrying Vehicle test in July 2019 but had only done around 25 hours of driving at the time he was asked to drive the Stagecoach Gold service on October 5.

The hearing was told there was a driver shortage due to industrial action. The Commissioner said: “It appears to be that there was pressure to deal with a driver shortage so corners were cut. Commercial considerations overtook safety.”

The hearing heard that Mr Allan was charged with ten offences of causing serious injury through dangerous driving, but those charges were dropped at court and he was convicted, in July 2021, of one single offence of careless driving.

At a relatively early point in the journey his hi-viz jacket, which was hanging behind him, started to blow out of the window and in turning to secure the garment he lost control of the bus which then overturned into a field.

The Commissioner said: “Mr Allen had not received vehicle-specific training nor the local support. He had not had familiarisation training for the route. The crash was a culmination of deeply unfortunate circumstances.

“I find that the operator failed to comply with its own procedures and so allowed in to service a driver, vehicle and route combination that would not meet its own standard criteria and was proven to be dangerous by the casualty outcome.

The Commissioner added: “I find that the situation which allowed Kameron Allan to be driving was negligent and was likely to have increased significantly the road safety risk. The management control was clearly missing. The driver was insufficiently trained when measured against the operator’s own standards.”

The Commissioner also found that Stagecoach Devon had failed to notify the authorities of Mr Allan’s conviction for careless driving.

A Stagecoach South West spokesperson said: “The safety of our customers, our employees, and others is our absolute priority. As a company, it is always put first before anything else.

“We sincerely regret the individual actions which led to the accident in 2019 and our thoughts remain with those affected.

“Senior past and present company executives have assisted extensively the Inquiry’s consideration of the issues involved, and we will continue to follow that constructive approach.

“The bus route involved was registered to be operated in a similar way to many other bus services run by many other operators across the UK. Moving forward, therefore, we believe it is important there is a consistent approach developed across the industry involving all bus operators, the Department for Transport, and the Office of the Traffic Commissioner on this issue.

“Our management and frontline teams are working hard in the face of very challenging circumstances facing the bus sector, and they remain committed to doing their very best for our local communities.”