A BUS driver who crashed into a low bridge after becoming lost while taking dozens of students to college has been given a suspended jail term.

Trevor Wilson, 51, from Stockton, ploughed into the bridge on Neasham Road, in Darlington, on September 22 last year while on his way to Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, tearing off the roof.

Twelve students required hospital treatment after the crash, including one girl who broke her collar bone.

Wilson appeared before Darlington Magistrates' Court this afternoon where he was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and 100 hours of work in the community.

Magistrates said they had decided to suspend the sentence after hearing about the 'devastating' effect the incident had on Wilson's life.