Stuart Cunningham-Jones was sitting on the top deck of the bus

Stuart Cunningham-Jones died and 30 children were injured when the double-decker careered off the road and hit a tree near the village of Ystradowen in the Vale of Glamorgan, in December 2002.

On Wednesday, the jury heard that one boy had told a policeman he was responsible for the crash because he had been messing around behind the driver.

He later said he could not remember what he had said, and claimed he fell into the driver's cab after being knocked over after the bus went over a bump in the road.

Other accounts from different children on the bus tell different stories.

One version is that two boys were fighting over who was going to play with the ticket machine - one pushed the other and the boy fell into the driver's cab.

The witness told the jury that, when the boy fell, his arm went through the spokes of the steering wheel.

Another is that a boy tried to reach over the driver to sound the horn, forcing the driver to push him away, moments before the crash.

In a transcript of an interview that was read out at the inquest, the child who had been sitting on the lower deck of the bus recalled that the horn sounded and the driver shouted "we're going to hit the tree".

The bus was carrying 72 children when it crashed

He told police that he saw the driver knock the boy's hand out of the way four or five times and that he was continuously trying to stop him.

On Tuesday, another 14-year-old pupil told the hearing how he was standing near the baggage rack of the bus when he saw another pupil distract the driver up to 10 times.

The court also heard from a motorist who had been travelling in the opposite direction who saw a boy standing directly behind the driver who seemed to be "reaching across" him.

Before witnesses began giving evidence, Coroner for Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, Lawrence Addicott, told the jury of seven men and three women, that no one was "on trial" and there were no sides.

The Crown Prosecution Service has already said that no one will face criminal charges over the death.

Stuart, a pupil at Cowbridge Comprehensive School, was sitting on the top deck of the service bus when it left the road.

The vehicle fell into a field and came to rest on its side after hitting a tree.

A police investigation got under way but tests later showed that there were no mechanical faults with the bus.