Firefighters cut woman free after car and bus crash in Southend

A woman was freed from her car by firefighters after her car was in a collision with a bus on Victoria Avenue in Southend on Tuesday evening, 13 January.

Fire crews from Southend and Leigh stations were called to the incident at around 5.50pm following a crash between a car and a bus, near the junction with East Street.

J’aime Alice said her father was travelling on the bus involved in the crash. She said: “My Dad was on the bus and was the first one to check on the girl. She was pretty shaken up and thought she had a filtered green light to turn right.”

The woman was left trapped inside the vehicle and had to be cut free by firefighters working alongside paramedics. Emergency crews said she was “conscious and breathing” as they worked to release her. She was then left in the care of paramedics with the East of England Ambulance Service.

A spokesperson for Essex Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called to a road traffic collision in Victoria Avenue, Southend, at 5.51pm.

“A woman was trapped in a car following a collision with a bus. She was conscious and breathing, and crews worked with paramedics to release her. Crews left the scene at 7.29pm.”

The junction has been described by residents as a hotspot for collisions in recent years, with several near misses reported.

Caron Newman said she witnessed another dangerous incident at the same location earlier in the day. She said: “I witnessed a moped driver nearly get taken out here yesterday afternoon too. He was turning right and didn’t consider the traffic still flowing from the lights towards Victoria Avenue and turned straight in front of an oncoming vehicle.”

Caroline Sweeney suggested the layout may need reviewing: “Maybe the council need to look at that junction if so many motor vehicles are making right turns in front of oncoming traffic.”

The crash led to disruption along Victoria Avenue during the evening, with emergency services remaining at the scene for almost two hours while the woman was freed and the vehicles were made safe.

While the circumstances of the collision have not been formally confirmed, the incident has reignited local concern about the busy junction.