THERE were calls for major improvements to a Cudworth accident blackspot after a lorry and double-decker bus collided in spectacular fashion 32 years ago this week.

The two vehicles were left mangled together beneath the old railway bridge on Pontefract Road in June 1986.

Thankfully the drivers escaped without serious injuries in the head-on smash.

Although his cabin was crushed, the bus driver suffered only minor injuries. He and two passengers, as well as the lorry driver, were treated for cuts and bruises and shock at Barnsley Hospital.

“It was a miracle that the bus driver got out alive and nobody else was badly hurt,” said a fireman at the time.

“The bench seat upstairs above the driver’s cabin was torn out of the side of the bus.”

Yorkshire Traction said it wanted to see major improvements to make the ‘black spot’ more safe.

“I would like to see the pavement removed to make the road wider under the bridge, then a subway for pedestrians,” said George Baker, assistant deputy manager at Barnsley’s Yorkshire Traction depot.

But Barnsley Council did not at the time have any plans for alterations at the site, where several accidents had occurred.

“Neither do we have the money for major work,” said a spokesman.

Little changed for a quarter of a century. However, the road got significantly quieter with the opening of the £21m Cudworth bypass in 2010.

Then in March 2015 the bridge was removed to make sure double-decker buses could safely navigate their way into Cudworth.

Now just the stonework which used to support the bridge remains.