THE headteacher of English Martyrs School has spoken of his devastation after 20 of his students were injured in the tragic accident.

Joe Hughes looked visibly shaken as he revealed the full extent of the accident, which left two youngsters critically ill in hospital and others with fractures and other injuries.

Mr Hughes, who has been headteacher at the Hartlepool school for 12 years, said: "Obviously, we are all very worried, concerned, upset and distraught by what has happened.

"Our first thoughts are with our students, their parents and their families, and they will be in our thoughts and prayers throughout the night as we await further news."

He said the parents of all the injured children had been informed.

"We had a few phone calls from worried parents whose children had not arrived home, but they turned out to be at friends' houses and such like."

Mr Hughes praised school staff and the emergency services for the way they dealt with what was a traumatic experience.

He said: "I would like to pay tribute to the many staff from both English Martyrs and Catcote Special School, who immediately came to the scene to render what assistance they could to the injured.

"I have also nothing but praise for the exceptionally rapid response of the police, the ambulance service and the fire brigade, and for the level of care that they gave to all the students."

The school plans to hold a special staff meeting this morning, followed by a series of special assemblies for each year group.

Mr Hughes said counselling support would also be available in the school for anyone who needed it.

Mr Hughes also revealed his concerns over the safety of children using Catcote Road.

He said it was dangerous and there had been at least four less serious accidents outside the school in the last four or five years.

He added: "It is a busy road, and we would certainly like to see more traffic calming measures put in place.

"There are still cars that travel too fast along the road."