PASSENGERS have spoken of their horror after their coach smashed through roadside barriers and ended up perched above a railway line.

The National Express bus, carrying dozens of passengers from London to Edinburgh, crashed over a roundabout and through a fence in Gateshead.

It ended up balanced 20ft above the main rail line as trains hurtled by below.

About 30 passengers had to carefully leave the bus and scramble up the bank.

Yesterday, an investigation began into the cause of the accident, which left the bus driver with minor injuries.

The coach came off the A184 at a roundabout leading to the Redheugh Bridge at 3.45pm on Friday.

Sheila Jones, of Wetherby, North Yorkshire, said: "It was very scary to begin with. Then when we got off the bus I realised how close we came to the railway track."

A National Express spokeswoman said the company would launch an investigation.