Children in Darlington are being given lessons in how to evacuate a school bus in the event of a serious accident or fire.

Bus company Stagecoach are taking double deckers to local secondary schools so that pupils can get realistic instruction in simulated scenarios.

Darlington transport officer George Smith told BBC Radio Cleveland the scheme had been very successful so far.

Pupils at Hurworth School were the first to be put through their paces.

We hope it is something that is not going to happen, but obviously it is something we need to prepare for

Richard Cranmer Stagecoach

Mr Smith said: "First time when they evacuated the bus without any warning, it took them 25 seconds.

"When they knew what to do we got it down to 18 seconds, which is an excellent evacuation time... every second counts for the safety of the passengers.

"We have had some very positive questions from the children, they know exactly what to do and how to evacuate the vehicle."

Richard Cranmer general manager of Stagecoach said it was important to plan for the worst.

Educate children

He said: "What we are doing is telling the children there is a fire in the front entrance of the bus and that they have to leave.

"We ask them what they would do in the event of a fire, and tell them what exits to use and how to help other children.

"The first concern of any driver is his passengers and in the event of something like this our staff would know exactly what to do to help the children.

"We hope it is something that is not going to happen, but obviously it is something we need to prepare for and educate the children about what to do."