Police are questioning the driver of the coach which crashed in France, killing a teenager from Edinburgh and injuring at least 11 others.

Craig Norsworthy, 15, died when the coach carrying 26 others from the 41st Boys Brigade company in Edinburgh and a group of 21 from a school in Essex, plunged into a ditch.

Four people are said to have been seriously injured in the accident, which happened on the A71 motorway at Vierzon, near Bourges, in central France at 0420 GMT.

Eleven of the Essex schoolchildren and a teacher were flying back to London's Heathrow airport on Monday evening, with other members of the coach party due to return to Scotland on Tuesday.

French police have said they were looking into the possibility that driver Adrian McDonald may have fallen asleep at the wheel. No other vehicles were involved.

The coach owners, Rennies of Dunfermline, said the man at the wheel was driving on the continent for the first time.

Trapped in wreckage

He had driven from Calais to Paris before handing over to an experienced co-driver who steered the bus through the capital, after which he took over again.

A spokesman for the owners said: "Don't get me wrong, he was an experienced driver, but it was his first European tour."

He said Mr McDonald and co-driver Craig Linton, both in their early 30s and from Dunfermline, had both been injured in the crash and were being kept in hospital overnight.

"We can only imagine what state of mind they must be in. I'm sure they are devastated by what has happened, as we all are," he added.

Craig Norsworthy: Trapped in bus

The dead teenager was trapped between a seat and a bulkhead at the rear of the coach.

Eight people have been kept in a French hospital overnight, said the Foreign Office, with three of them likely to have to stay longer.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said: "Our thoughts and sympathy are with the families of the children and teachers involved in this terrible accident."

He has offered the French authorities help with an inquiry into the cause of the accident.

The party had travelled through the night after leaving Edinburgh at 1830 GMT Sunday and was on its way to the village of Chartrier-Ferriere in the central French region of Correze for an adventure holiday.

Landed in ditch

It was travelling within the speed limit when it left the carriageway without braking and tipped onto its side, one hour after a change of driver.

Alan Meikle: "Everyone was asleep"

Alan Meikle, the company's acting captain, was on the bus. He told BBC News 24 that everyone was asleep when the accident happened.

Speaking from the gymnasium of a nearby school, he said: "When we landed in the ditch, everybody was woken on impact.

"I can't thank the emergency services and the people here enough. They've been superb."

The company captain, George Sim, was being operated on for a suspected broken leg. Apart from the fatality, the other injuries mostly involved cuts and bruises.

Rennies general manager Gordon Menzies, said the Volvo coach had been hired by the Herefordshire-based children's activity holiday company PGL.

There were 21 children and six adults from the Edinburgh company along with a party of 19 youngsters and two adults from Chadwell Heath High School in Romford, Essex. All the youngsters were aged between 11 and 18.

Gordon Menzies: Sympathy for parents

Mr Menzies added: "The company is devastated. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened here.

"Our hearts go out to the child's parents."

The coach, registered in 1995, was fully fitted with seatbelts but the company policy is not to insist that passengers wear them.

Rennies said the drivers would have been doing three to four-hour stints behind the wheel.

'Devastated'

Chadwell Heath headteacher Keith Wilkinson told BBC News Online: "I was telephoned by a member of the coach company shortly before 0600, telling me of the crash.

"Soon afterwards I heard from a member of our staff who was on the coach."

Keith Wilkinson speaks to reporters

One male pupil had a neck injury which was more serious than first thought. A girl underwent surgery to remove glass from her face.

A spokesman for the Gendarmerie d'Autoroutes in Vierzon: "One of the drivers fell asleep and the coach overturned and crashed into a ditch."

A spokeswoman for adventure holiday company PGL said the firm organised thousands of school adventure trips every year, and the company was "devastated" to learn of the crash.