The driver of a tour coach which skidded off an icy road in Cornwall last night, fatally injuring two woman passengers, has been praised for preventing worse loss of life.

Five other passengers were seriously hurt and dozens more needed treatment for cuts and shock after the coach crashed down an embankment and overturned.

Local residents in the village of Townsend near Hayle praised the driver for steering between two trees as the coach skidded off the icy hill road. The 50-year-old driver kicked out the roof and helped his passengers to escape the wreckage.

"There was no chance he could do anything but crash. He managed to avoid two huge trees and go through the gap, which saved a lot of them I think," said Jane Moore, who lives nearby and came to the scene to help.

"He did fantastically. He was very shaken. There was no way he could have done anything to avoid it. It was sheet ice all the way down. It was like a mirror. We stepped out and nearly went over."

The coach with 48 passengers on board crashed at 10.15pm on its way back from taking members of local Womens’ Institutes to see the lights in the picturesque fishing village of Mousehole.

After coming off the road the fell down a 20ft embankment coming to rest on its side. A police patrol car answering a 999 call also slid off the road and crashed into the overturned coach which still had passengers trapped on board.

Many of the passengers took refuge at the Moores' home. Her husband, George, said: "The driver was so good. He dodged two massive trees. It could have been so much worse. Once the crash happened, he kicked out the roof and got the passengers out. He was really calm and got everybody before himself."

Derek Smith, 48, who raised the alarm when a barefoot woman passenger banged on his kitchen door, watched as the first police car on the scene skidded towards the coach.

He said: "The police car went past and I was waving 'stop, stop, stop'. He applied his brakes but couldn't stop. He probably skidded for about 100 yards. There was a massive bang as he hit the coach. There were people shouting and screaming.

"There were people still inside. My biggest worry was that he had hit someone, but he hadn't."

Emergency crews could not get close to the crash site because of the icy roads and had to park at a distance and make their way on foot.

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