TWENTY five years after a coach carrying daytrippers plunged through Dibbles Bridge, near Hebden, the crash remains the worst accident in British motoring history.

Bus driver Roger Marriott, 33, who had been asked to drive the coach at the last minute, was killed in the accident along with 31 of his female passengers on Tuesday May 27 1975.

The ladies were enjoying a mystery tour from their home in Thornaby on Tees, near Stockton, to Grassington, which was to be its next stop.

But the brakes failed on the yellow bus as it travelled down Fancarl Hill, with its one in six gradient, and it tore through the 30ft long, three foot high stone parapet above the River Dibb coming to rest on its roof in a field 17 feet below.

With seatbelts only recently fitted to coaches the occupants had little chance of surviving the crash - but miraculously 13 passengers, although injured, cheated death on that Dales day out.

Emergency teams from across Craven raced to the scene but it took three hours to free all the occupants of the Bedford Duple bus and take them to Airedale General Hospital.

One of the first ambulancemen on the scene was David Rhodes, then 29, of Raines Meadows, Grassington, who told the Herald reporter at the time: "It was a shocking sight. All we could see from the road was the underneath of the bus and there were no noises from the wreck. It was just a jumble of bodies."

With 32 people killed and 13 injured there were calls for extra warning signs from MPs George Burnaby Drayson of Skipton and Ian Wigglesworth of Thornaby, representing the area from where the victims came.

And local councillor Beth Graham spoke out with a plea which is as relevant on today's busy roads as it was 25 years ago.

She told the Herald reporter: "It is time we sought the co-operation of the RAF or any other body in providing helicopter standby for emergencies during peak holiday periods in the Dales.

"I would not like to think our lives depended on ambulances fighting through traffic that builds up at holiday times."

In July 1975 an inquest at Skipton Town Hall recorded a verdict of accidental death on the 32 victims of the Dibbles Bridge tragedy. Jury foreman John Mitchell said the accident was caused by the inability of the driver to negotiate the bend owing to deficient brakes on the coach due to possible lack of care in the maintenance of the braking system.

Craven coroner James Turnbull spoke of four brake defects and an expert said it was an astounding coincidence that these defects should all occur at once.

Survivor Doreen Parkinson, who still lives in Thornaby, recalled the crash in which she was lucky to escape with broken ribs and brusing.

She said: "It was a ladies outing which we often went on. I was sitting on the third seat from the back of the coach.

"I remember hearing a lot of screaming but I'm not sure whether that was the other passengers or the brakes.

"There was the sound of breaking glass and I woke up in hospital where I stayed for 11 days. I was unconscious so I don't even remember hitting the bridge.

"Thornaby was quite a small town then and it was very upsetting as everyone knew each other.

"I have never been back to the Dales since the accident but I think it would be nice if there was a plaque on the bridge in memory of all those people who lost their lives."

In fact this terrible accident was the second motoring tragedy on Dibbles Bridge (known locally as Devil's Bridge). Fifty years before, on June 10 1925, a motor coach carrying 24 people on an outing from York to Grassington plunged over the bridge in the exact spot as the 1975 accident killing seven people and injuring 14.

Despite the terrible events which have occurred on Dibbles Bridge the site does not feature on the county council's top 100 accident black spots and consequently few highway improvements have been made to Fancarl Hill since 1975.

Richard Marr of North Yorkshire County Council's highways department explained: "The signing has been improved since the accident. At the time of the crash it was suggested that we straighten out the bridge but that hasn't been done. However, the signs were reviewed and upgraded and have been upgraded at least once again since then. The signs warn of the severity of the gradient and advise motorists to get into a low gear.

"Since that unfortunate incident there have been very few accidents at that location and so it hasn't got to the top of the accident list. We have a list of the top 200 accident sites in the county and Dibbles Bridge does not feature."

Hartlington Parish Meeting believes a memorial plaque should be placed on Dibbles Bridge to serve as a warning to today's motorists and as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the horrific accident.

Clerk Jeremy Daggett said: "The spot should be marked and once we have a plaque we would like to invite all the survivors of the Dibbles Bridge accident back for the unveiling."

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