Scots school pupils suffered minor injuries after a coach taking them to Alton Towers theme park crashed.

Two busloads of children were travelling from Ardrossan Academy when one coach crashed into the back of another around 8am on Thursday morning.

A window smashed and five pupils suffered minor cuts and were treated at the scene of the incident in Staffordshire, near the theme park.

There were 89 pupils from first, second and third year, as well as school staff on the buses.

A spokesman for North Ayrshire Council confirmed that there had been a “minor” crash and no one had suffered serious injury.

The spokesman said: “As a precautionary measure, paramedics were called and five pupils received treatment for superficial cuts.”

Parents are now being contacted and asked whether they will allow children to use the rides at Alton Towers.

Ardrossan Academy Head Teacher Lisa Chalmers said: “Parents should be reassured that pupils have been thoroughly assessed by paramedics and no-one has suffered any serious injuries although five pupils have received treatment for some minor cuts.

“Although the paramedics made it clear that all pupils were fine to travel on to Alton Towers, we have opted to be cautious and taken the decision that no child would be allowed on any of the rides until we had explicit approval from a parent or immediate family member.

“I would like to thank the pupils and our staff, as well as the paramedics who attended and also the local coach company who stepped in to ensure the children were able to make their way to the park after the accident.

“The spirits of the pupils and staff are high and they are still determined to enjoy the outing. New coaches are being provided to bring the pupils home and we expect the return arrangements to remain the same.”

In 2002 a 15-year-old pupil from Ayrshire died in a coach crash in France which also left five others seriously injured.

Katherine Fish, from Largs, was killed when the coach crashed on the A6 motorway link road at Bierre-les-Semur, near Dijon on June 27.

The French motorway maintenance service said at the time the the coach may have hit the crash barrier on a sliproad and flipped over.

Another pupil - 15-year-old Mark Nicol - lost a hand after his arm was crushed.