Witnesses see bus in flames in Norwich

Police and fire crews from Sprowston and Carrow were called to Plumstead Road shortly before 1pm on Tuesday.

Chris Speed, Head of operations at First Eastern Counties confirmed there had been no injuries.

Mr Speed said: "One of our buses experienced a small fire in the engine compartment whilst operating along Plumstead Road today. The fire service attended the scene and extinguished fire, no travelling passengers or the driver sustained any injuries, An investigation will be undertaken to determine the cause of the fire."

Alistair Harnden, 46, described seeing smoke pouring out of the back of the First bus and no passengers were on board.

Alastair Harnden saw smoke pouring from the back of the bus on Plumstead Road. (Image: Alastair Harnden)

Alistair Harnden saw smoke pouring from the back of the bus on Plumstead Road. (Image: Alistair Harnden)

Mr Harnden, from Norwich, said: "I was working and looked up to see the bus with smoke pouring out the back, then the flames started and was getting a bit nervous but the fire engine came within about four minutes and quickly put it out."

A fire service spokesman said crews were called at 12.59pm, arriving six minutes later.

Crews used breathing apparatus and hose reel jets to extinguish the flames,

The road is expected to be closed for a couple of hours due to diesel on the road.

Andrew Thain, who works at Richardsons Hardware, said: "It was a bit smoky, it wasn't until someone came n and said a bus is on fire. The fire brigade arrived and within five to 10 minutes it was out.

"It was really smoky, you couldn't really see, all the shops had to close their doors. It was a bit of a pantomime. I could see smoke coming out of the back of the bus."

A police spokesman said officers assisted fire with traffic control.

The spokesman added: "Highways are on scene to deal with oil spill and recovery are also now on scene."

Due to the incident, the 23 and 24 services will divert via Yarmouth Road and Harvey Lane.