A COACH passenger has recalled the sight of blood and glass after a pile-up on the M11 motorway.

Jim Bradley, 84, was on the coach packed with holidaymakers from south Essex which was involved in the serious crash.

The bus, belonging to Westcliff-based firm Cooks Coaches, set off on a journey to Cheshire, for a Warners short break, on Monday morning.

The coach, which also made a stop on Canvey, had 27 passengers on board. Mr Bradley was picked up in Thurrock.

He said: “We had just gone past Stansted Airport and the coach came to a standstill in traffic.

“Then all of a sudden there was a big crash, a lorry had hit us from behind and took half the back of the coach off.

“Two older people were injured and there was blood and glass everywhere.

“There were a lot of walking wounded, and people who were visibly shaken.

“There was an elderly woman, who was probably in her eighties, and she was crying in pain.

“I went up to the back of the coach to try to help people, and someone shouted not to move people as they might have had broken bones.”

Mr Bradley said the lorry then went into three or four cars. In all, six people had to be taken to hospital. Mr Bradley said the passengers clambered off the coach and waited on a roadside grass verge for four hours as another Cooks coach made its way through the tailbacks to get the remaining passengers on their way to Cheshire for the planned break.

Mr Bradley, from Dagenham, said: “The coach arrived and everyone was still shaken, but in decent spirits. People were joking they didn’t want to sit at the back of the coach.”

The elderly woman on the coach was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. Essex Police yesterday confirmed she was in a stable condition after suffering hip and leg injuries.

Bill Cook, who owns Cooks Coaches, said he did not know the extent of the damage, or if the coach was a write-off.

He said: “The coach is being held by police as part of the investigation.”