A mother has called for urgent action to improve safety on a stretch of road where two buses crashed.

The driver of one of the buses was air-lifted to hospital with what were described as life-changing injuries following the collision between a school bus and a commercial service in Epping Road, Coopersale, at 4.27pm yesterday.

A pupil from Ingatestone Anglo-European School was trapped following the crash and later taken to hospital with serious injuries. Another pupil was released from hospital after treatment.

Louise Green, who lives nearby, said it is not the first crash at the spot, which is yards from the junction with Coopersale Common.

The 34-year-old said: “I just saw all of the sirens and cars were turning around away from the accident.

“That junction is really, really dangerous so something should be done about the speed limit along that road.

“People leave their indicators on so other people speed up to try to get around them, or think that they are pulling into the bus stop.

“Lots of crashes have happened down there.”

She added her family has been voicing concerns about the road for many months.

Mrs Green added: “We are very concerned about it.

“There is a river that runs along near the road and sometimes we get a little bit of flooding which can turn icy.

“People have skidded across the road down there. Really, it should be 30mph.”