Driver’s ‘executive decision’ stops bus ploughing into busy takeaway

A driver has been praised for taking an “executive decision” to crash a bus into a house in snowy weather to avoid ploughing into a busy takeaway.
The double decker Stagecoach bus hit an empty property on Shay House Lane in the Stocksbridge area of Sheffield as snow fell on Monday night.
It is not thought anyone was injured.
Local resident Rya Cooper was at home when she heard a crash and went to investigate at around 10pm.
She said she spoke to the driver and others at the scene.
“The driver made a commitment either to hit the house or go directly straight down into the takeaway and nail bar,” she said.
“The takeaway was full of people, so he made an executive decision either to hit loads of people or hit the house.”
She said it was “heroic”, adding: “He helped everyone out, he was helping the local community.”
Fellow neighbour Mike Smith said he heard a “big bang” and left his house to find the bus wedged up against the row of terraces.
He said: “It was the safest thing [for the driver] to do because there’s a big drop.”
A spokesperson for Stagecoach said no-one was hurt in the incident.
They added: “Safety is our absolute priority, and we will investigate the full circumstances involved.”
It came as many areas across the county experienced several centimetres of snow, with a Met Office yellow weather warning in place for the region until 11am on Tuesday.
Schools were closed and public transport disrupted.
Some First Bus services were affected, but Stagecoach said its routes were all running as normal despite the incident in Sheffield.
Northern rail services between Bradford Interchange and Huddersfield were also facing problems.
A number of schools in South and West Yorkshire were closed with others starting late.
Five schools across Kirklees were closed and another four were opening late.
In Wakefield, Highfield School was the one confirmed to have closed.
A number of schools in South Yorkshire said they would be closed or not opening until later.
Temperatures are expected to hit freezing on Tuesday night but there is not expected to be significant snowfall during the rest of the week.
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