A SURVIVOR of the horrific motorway coach crash that claimed the lives of six people has spoken about the events of the fateful night.

Alison Lovelady and her daughter, Clare, of Evesham, were passengers on the WR Spring coach which overturned on the M25 as it was making its way back to the Vale following a pre-Christmas shopping day trip to France.

Both suffered minor injuries in the accident.

Alison, a 41-year-old nursery nurse at Noah's Ark Day Nursery, based at Evesham Community Hospital, had been accompanied by Clare, 20, a receptionist at the town's Northwick Hotel, after her daughter said she fancied a day trip to the continent.

It was a trip Alison had made with her husband, Martin, 43, for the last two years, also with WR Spring.

"The ferry left at 11am," said Alison, "We went to Boulogne and we had a good two and a half hours there shopping at a hypermarket."

Until the horror unfolded later on, it had, until then, been an enjoyable day out. The return ferry departed at 8pm.

"I was sleeping. Both my daughter and I were asleep," said Alison.

"The first thing I knew was like a bump and then the coach turned over. I thought 'am I still asleep?' It was like something you see on the television, on programmes like Casualty. It seemed a bit unreal, at first." She went on: "Then it just went quiet. You got that deadly quietness.

"My initial reaction was to get out because we didn't know if it was going to go up in flames. Then, the next moment, I know someone is just pulling us out. It was one of the passengers, from the back. We were lucky; we were sitting by the middle skylight."

She went on: "I didn't realise what had gone on until I got off the coach."

Alison helped calm Clare, who was very upset by the accident, and phoned her husband to tell him what had happened.

Alison and Clare were taken to Slough's Wexham Park Hospital. "I've got bruising on my back and down the side of my neck," said Alison, "Clare has bruised all her arm and shoulder."

The hospital discharged them at 4.30am on Sunday and arranged for taxis to take them to the doorstep of their Windsor Street home. They arrived back at 6.30am.

"It didn't actually hit me until Monday, reading about it in the paper and seeing it on the television, about how lucky we were," said Alison, "My daughter knows one of the drivers who died."

Both have been signed off work until next week while they recover from their injuries and ordeal. Alison said Clare had not even spoken to her friends since the accident.

Ironically, Alison's aunt had been to Boulogne on a similar trip the same day and was among worried relatives who rang later to see if she and Clare were all right following the crash.

"I just still don't believe how we got out," said Alison, "We were very, very lucky."