Princess Beatrice had what was described by one onlooker as a “lucky escape” on Monday afternoon when the BMW she was driving became sandwiched between a coach and a London bus on the busy roundabout at Hyde Park Corner.

The fifth in line to the throne was accompanied by her bodyguard who was travelling in the passenger seat. The Princess was reported to have been in tears following the collision between the bus and the coach, however both she and her passengers were able to walk away from the smash unharmed, but shaken.

The accident happened at the notoriously busy 6 lane roundabout at Hyde Park Corner in London, just a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace, the home of her grandmother the Queen. Eye witnesses described the princess as looking “traumatised” as a result of the accident.

Following the smash on the busy London road, Princess Beatrice exchanged insurance details with the other drivers involved in the crash, and a replacement car was sent to collect her from the scene of the accident.

The 22-year-old’s BMW 1 series became wedged between the coach and bus travelling in the same direction around the heavily congested roundabout. The luxury car has since been taken away for repair, however due to the damage caused following the collision with the two larger vehicles, it’s highly likely the car will be written off.

Luckett’s Travel slashes coach travel rates for Portsmouth football fans first game of 2010

Portsmouth footie fans will be able to get the New Year off to a flying start as Luckett’s Travel, the official transport provider for the club, have halved the price of its coach fares for the first away game of 2010.

The coach hire company is encouraging Pompey fans to get behind their team as Portsmouth embarks on its first away game of New Year at Fulham on January 9^th. With a massive 50% reduction on coach seats for those wishing to travel to the match with Lucketts, adults will be looking at paying £9 for a return fare, and £6 for a child’s ticket.

Luckett’s Travel offers a first class coach service with a great fleet of luxury coaches, so Portsmouth fans will be treated to first class travel, at a bargain rate.

The sales director at Lucketts, Paul Barringer explained why they’ve introduced the special offer: “We want to arm the team with a full force of support for the game. The Portsmouth fans are known to be some of the most passionate in the Premiership and so by getting an army of fans to the game we hope to give the team the boost it needs.”

The bosses at Portsmouth Football Clubs have also welcomed the cut price coach fare plan and are looking forward to the first away clash of the New Year.

Ochil Tours coach company calls in the liquidators

Perthshire based Ochil Tours has gone into liquidation with very little warning to staff. The company’s employees turned up, for what they thought was a normal day’s work last Tuesday, only to be confronted by a team of liquidators who were present to seize Ochil Tour’s assets. All coaches were taken from the premises last week and the company has ceased trading.

Ochil Tours held several contracts with local authorities, the main one being a contract to transport primary school children to Perth Leisure pool. Now rival coach company Stagecoach has taken over the job. The company also specialised in providing coach tours.

The staff at the Fair City firm seemed baffled by the sudden closure of the company. One said that their boss had even been considering taking on a new member of staff recently. The firm had employed 4 full time drivers, a receptionist and part-time casual staff.

The former acting transport manager at Ochil Tours, Alan Robertson said he was sorry that many of their customers who had made prior bookings would lose out, whilst others may not even realise they have ceased trading and will be expecting them to turn up for their booking. Mr Robertson said, “It is letting people down that is really getting to us. There will be a lot of local people out of pocket.” He added, “A number of people have paid for business trips or put down deposits and they will not get a penny.

The recession has been partly blamed for the closure of the company plus “changes in legislation meant that some contract work was lost.” Also cited as a contributory factor were the “large maintenance bills” which meant the firm couldn’t survive through the winter.

Senior citizens in South Wales fight to get their minibus back

Pensioners from the Amman Valley in South Wales have put in a plea with the county council to have the minibus service which they call “vital” reinstated. The senior citizens of Glanaman and Garnant have successfully lobbied their local MP Adam Price and AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas who have got behind the group 100% to push to have the minibus facility back up and running.

Both Mr Price and Mr Thomas have joined forces to appeal to the council to bring back this essential service for the pensioners. A letter has been sent to council officials, signed by both the MP and AM, and it is now being looked into by the authorities. Mr Price explained how important the minibus service is to the elderly residents saying, “In many cases the few hours a week the bus was available was the only time people using the facility were able to spend away from their homes.”

An alternative minibus in Carmarthen has been made available to the senior citizens, however this has not been a practical option because of problems with securing a volunteer driver in the area. This has proved to be an unhelpful and impractical alternative.

Mr Thomas AM stressed the importance of the facility for the residents of the Amman Valley, saying that it is vital the council acts to prevent the elderly and vulnerable from the area feeling isolated and cut-off.

The number 294 Romford bus experienced an engine fire last Friday

Passengers onboard the number 294 double-decker bus in Romford last Friday had to make a swift exit after the vehicle’s engine caught fire, spreading to the rest of the bus.

As the blaze, which started at the engine at the rear of the bus, caught hold both the upper and lower decks were engulfed in flames. Everyone onboard, including the driver and approximately 30 passengers, manage to escape from the bus without injury.

Two fire crews were alerted and the road around the bus was closed for approximately an hour as the fire fighters fought to extinguish the blaze and clear the scene of debris. This caused congestion in the area as traffic built up.

A replacement bus was dispatched to collect the stranded passengers as quickly as possible.

The Romford bus was part of the East London Bus Group (ELBG). The operator has experienced 4 bus fires, including this one, however it is reported that there is no link between all of the incidents.

Dave Flower, who is a former employee of ELBG, heard about the bus fire from a friend who was a witness, he described what happened saying: “The driver pulled up about two metres short of the stop.” He added, “Someone tried to put it out with an extinguisher but it seemed to make it worse. It went up really quickly.”

A spokesman for the ELBG confirmed that a full investigation would be carried out to determine the cause of the fire, adding that the problem could “not be tied down to one fault.”