A Royston man who crashed a coach carrying 42 Cambridgeshire schoolchildren into a ditch when he fell asleep at the wheel has been given a suspended sentence.

Ross Ogilvie had been taking children from William Westley Primary School in Whittlesford on a school trip when he crashed the coach on the A10 near Hilgay in Norfolk on July 22 last year.

The 23-year-old – who was working for Barley-based Richmond’s Coaches – received a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, after admitting dangerous driving at Norfolk Crown Court on Friday.

He has also been disqualified from driving for 18 months, ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and pay £350 costs, as well as £500 compensation to one child.

The crash closed the A10 for more than six hours, with the coach one of three travelling in a convoy for the end-of-term trip to the coast.

Children told how they were scared and crying after the coach toppled on to its side, but were kept calm by staff as they were guided off into a nearby field while paramedics treated some for shock and slight injuries.

As parents back at the primary school were sent news of the crash, pupils sang songs in a nearby field while they waited to board a coach back home.

Ogilvie was cut free and taken to hospital for treatment to back injuries.