One dead and 12 hurt in bus crash in West Bromwich

A woman has died and 12 people have been taken to hospital following a crash involving a car and a single-decker bus in West Bromwich.

Emergency crews were called to Church Lane shortly after 1545 GMT, a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said. The female driver of the car died at the scene.

The bus driver and a pregnant woman were among the injured, most of whom were passengers on the bus.

Others suffered minor injuries.

Five ambulances were sent to the scene.

"The first crew to arrive on scene tended to the woman driver of the car," a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said.

"Unfortunately there was nothing they could do to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene.

"Twelve people, most of them from the bus, were taken to Sandwell Hospital following assessments at the scene.

"Two of them, a man who was driving the bus and a pregnant woman, were immobilised with the use of spinal boards and neck collars.

"The others all had minor injuries including bruising."