ONE woman was killed and 15 people injured following an horrific crash involving a car and a coach on the Suffolk-Norfolk border last night.The accident happened shortly before 6pm on the A143 at Ditchingham, near Bungay.

ONE woman was killed and 15 people injured following an horrific crash involving a car and a coach on the Suffolk-Norfolk border last night.

The accident happened shortly before 6pm on the A143 at Ditchingham, near Bungay. The car burst into flames as a result of the collision.

Fire crews from Loddon, Bungay, Beccles and Lowestoft were called to the scene as a car, thought to be a Ford Focus, had become trapped under the front of the coach.

The first crews on the scene reported that the car was on fire and that the female motorist was trapped in the wreckage.

Despite the efforts of the emergency services the woman, who comes from Suffolk, was pronounced dead at the scene.

There were 32 people on board the coach and first reports said that 15 passengers had been injured in the crash.

The extent of their injuries was not known last night although it is believed that at least five were taken to hospital.

A fleet of ambulances ferried the injured to hospital following the crash.

Those passengers that were not seriously hurt were taken to the nearby All Hallows Hospital at Ditchingham until a replacement coach arrived.

Police officers closed a large section of the A143 while emergency services were at the scene.

Once all the injured had been taken to hospital or treated at the scene accident investigators began their enquiries into the accident.

Last night, a police statement said: "Accident investigators believe the Ford Focus was undertaking an overtaking manoeuvre immediately prior to the collision."

Traffic was diverted off the A143 at the Clays roundabout at Bungay to the east of the crash and at the Earsham junction to the west.

Harry Bell, 79, of Ditchingham, was walking with his dog across the footbridge that crosses the A143 near the Clays printing works at the time of the accident.

"I often stop for a while as I cross the bridge and everything appeared normal with traffic moving freely.

"All of a sudden there was a really loud bang and I could see there had been a nasty crash further down the road," he said.

The A143 is a busy road and is single carriageway at the point where the crash happened.

It is popular with holidaymakers as it links Great Yarmouth with the A14 at Bury St Edmunds and passes close to Diss, Harleston, Bungay and Beccles.

Anyone with information about the crash should call Norfolk Police on 0845 4564567.