ELEVEN people were taken to hospital after a bus and lorry smashed into each other at a busy Liverpool city centre road junction.

The collision between the single-decker Stagecoach bus and DAF truck happened shortly before 9.10am yesterday.

It led to the junction of Berry Street and Duke Street being blocked by the two vehicles.

Roads were not fully re-opened until 1pm. North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said a total of 11 people were taken to the Royal Liverpool hospital – three on spinal boards, and the rest with minor injuries or walking wounded.

Sarah Ferns, 20, a passenger on the Number 82 bus, was among those who were injured during the accident and suffered a split lip.

She said: “I hurt my face on one of the poles, but mainly I was just really shaken. I was on my way to my workplace when suddenly the bus hit the lorry and I was jilted forwards.”

Lee Roberts, 27, from Tuebrook, was also on the bus and said people were mostly left in shock.

He said: “I was just reading the paper when I felt a jerk and I was thrown forward in my seat.

“There were a couple of old ladies sitting at the front of the bus who were hurt in the accident. There was glass everywhere but I think people were mainly feeling shocked.

“I was feeling a bit shaken by the accident.”

The NWAS sent four ambulances and a rapid response vehicle to the scene of the collision.

Stagecoach Merseyside managing director Stephen Riggans said he could not comment while the incident was under investigation.