A BUS driver has been questioned by police after his runaway vehicle ploughed through cemetery railings and wrecked around 30 graves.

Headstones were flattened as the bus, with 15 passengers on board, careered around 50 yards through the graveyard before finally coming to rest.

Bus operator Go North East said one person needed hospital treatment after the crash in Gateshead and others were tended at the scene, although Northumbria Police said none of the injured was badly hurt.

The accident happened shortly after 11am today (September 4) when the number 29 single-decker bus, heading north from Kibblesworth to Gateshead town centre, hit a stationary vehicle on Saltwell Road South and lost control.

A spokesman for Go North East said: "The driver lost control of his vehicle and went through the railings into the cemetery before coming to a stop. The bus was carrying 15 passengers, one of whom has been taken to hospital.

"It's understood there were other non-life threatening injuries. The driver has been interviewed by police”.

He added: "This is a serious incident and our thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this moment.

“We will carry out a full investigation to establish exactly how the accident occurred."

One onlooker estimated the bus had finally come to a stop - with a front wheel resting on a gravestone - around 50 yards inside Saltwell Cemetery.

It was thought around 30 gravestones were damaged in the crash, as the bus ran off the road and down the steep slope.

He said: "The front of the bus is all smashed up. There's loads of police here and council workers."

Many of the injured were helped from the stricken vehicle by a council worker who was carrying out grounds maintenance in the cemetery at the time.

Most of the damaged graves are thought to date back 30 or 40 years and Gateshead Council is now trying to trace relatives of those buried there.

A spokesman for Gateshead Council said: “We have already started trying to figure out which headstones have been damaged and we’re taking steps to find the deed holders for those plots.

“Most of the graves date from the 1970s and 80s so it may take a while to find the families affected.”

Anyone who thinks their family’s graves may have been among those damaged is asked to contact the Bereavement Services section at Gateshead Civic Centre.